What It Takes To Be a Hero
by baileystar
Summary: Brooke was only seven when she witnessed the robots in Egypt. Her life moved on. Now the Decepticons are after her for a reason even the Autobots don't know! What's worse is: they stole her mother! Now she has to fight back, but can she be a hero?
1. Prologue

_That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end._

_~Lise Hand_

* * *

I was only seven when I saw them.

Seven years old.

My memory is patched together piece by piece.

My parents, immense world travelers, were in Egypt looking at the three pyramids called the 'Three Kings'. My parents allowed me to go off and fool around with the daughter of our Egyptian guide while they took pictures. My recollection of where my Egyptian friend, Akila, and I went to play is vanished from my mind. But the next thing I knew, the town was deserted and our parents were no where in sight. Akila, aged ten at the time, hastily took my hand. She rushed me through the settlement in a flash to find our parents. Finally, three men in military uniforms discovered us.

"You have to get out of here; it's extremely dangerous!" I distinctly remember one man ordering us. But it was too late.

About ten feet from us landed a large mechanical cat-like thing, almost like a tiger. There was an older adolescent boy and girl facing off against it. Then, a large yellow robot thing came and, after a brief fight with it, swiftly ripped the cat-monster from its tail. I began to scream and cry while Akila was frozen in silence.

We ran.

Granted, now that I looked back at it, it was not the best choice I've ever made. As I looked around, my eyes were widened to the beings around me: giant robots bigger than a three story house. They were fighting each other. The town was in ruins.

Akila and I ran and hid in a stable home on the peaceful side of town. We stood in a back corner and wept.

"What were those things?" I remember asking. I have no memory of her answering my inquiry, only that of her praying in Egyptian. After a bit of time had lapsed and the sounds of fight had died down a bit, we edged ourselves out of the house and around the town.

We went from house to house, hiding. There were metal parts around the city and the occasional fallen robot, which we strayed from. Finally, we reached the edge of town. There, we say the young boy from before knocked out on the ground. The girl was leaned over him, crying, along with an army soldier. Was he dead? Dust was flying from a pouch in his hand. I remember a speck getting in my eye and, to this day, I don't know if it was what was in his hand or some desert sand. But before I could see if the boy survived, Akila ran out of the town.

I remember being reunited with my parents and Akila was with her mother. We were told by the army men later on to never speak of this incident ever again, to anyone. We were a secret. It never happened.

And that is where my story starts.

In darkness.

A mere memory.


	2. First Day

_Firstly, I'd like to say thank you to EVERYONE! 5 alerts and 3 reviews for the PROLOGUE before the story even starts? I am so happy!  
Secondly, I'd like to say I am SO sorry for the long update! I planned to update it yesterday but right after school I went to Goodwill to find an outfit for Decade Day at my school then it was straight to Color Guard practice. So this is my first Transformers story, EVER! I really hope you like it!_

* * *

_I ran around the dark dry area. I recognized this place. Stars lit up the sky in this uninhabited town. It was so quiet that, every step I took made a large noise. Then, I came upon it: a large silhouette standing next to the pyramid. Though the thing easily surpassed three times my height, it seemed small compared to the landmark. I froze, my legs refusing to move. The thing turned. His sharp red eyes bore into my skull._

"AH!" I screamed, jolting up from my bed. I began to breath heavy. "Holy crap, that dream again," I muttered. That was the tenth time in two months I say that thing.

"The dream again?" a familiar feminine voice asked. I turned to see my adopted sister Akila in the doorframe. She was eighteen now. She had dark olive skin and curly black hair. She had a curvy fame, making the boys around high school gawk.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I guess it's post-traumatic stress or something," I suggested, sliding out of my bed.

Akila's eyes averted to the floor. "Yeah, I hear ya. But hey, look at it this way: it's your first day of high school!" she said.

My eyes widened. High school. Summer was over. "Oh my god, it is, isn't it?" I muttered. Then began to rush to get ready and, clad in the cutest outfit I owned, threw my books in my bag.

"I can't believe you're in high school already," my mom muttered wretchedly while placing a pancake in front of me.

"And you remember our deal, right mom? No moving schools until next year," I reminded her. My parents were still travelers, but only around America. They didn't dare go out of the country anymore. We had moved to Arizona in the middle of last year.

"Yes, yes. You are siphoning me from adventure, I know. Life is so unfair," my mother over exaggerated. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes mom, because living in one place for a whole year is going to kill you," I told her, taking a bite of the soft chocolate pancake.

My mother dramatically fell onto the couch as if she were dying. "It's killing me; help!" she cried through the house.

I rolled my eyes and finished my meal. Soon Akila came down and joined me. She began to warn me of the routines of high school. One, freshmen do not talk to seniors. The social rank in high school is completely dependent on your grade. I could talk to Akila in classes freely but some fellow seniors may criticize the younger students. Two, always watch your back. Older students tend to play pranks on the 'younger' students. Those were the huge two rules she told me about.

Finally, it hit time to go to school. Akila and I grabbed our bags and went to her old used Ferrari Testarossa. She got it for her sixteenth birthday and it was pretty cheap. It had a lot of engine trouble but with her boyfriend (now ex) Jeremy, she managed to get it to an average state.

We drove to school and I was shocked. The high school was so big! Large beige bricks covered the school and a variety of shiny cars covered the parking lot. And there was an even larger variety in the students. All ages, all races, all were conversing in the commons. Freshmen were looking around the building in awe (which, I admit, I was doing too) and older students were reuniting with their friends and noticing the changes from last year. I caught up with a few friends from last year who I befriended, and school started.

My English and Math teachers were older women with piercing blue eyes and grey hair pulled into a bun. I later learned that they were sisters. My Human Geography teacher was a man in his early twenties with dark black eyes. He seemed nice and seemed to favorite me. As for my Science teacher…boy, she was something. One moment it would seem as if she were the nicest teacher in the world then the next, she would be giving out detentions. And on the first day of school, no less!

The school day seemed so long as I went to my locker to collect my things. No homework for today, thankfully. But even with the lack of homework, I still felt a little irritable. It was a long day. After I put my books in the locker, I went outside. Akila wasn't here yet, go figure. She was probably introducing herself to her last teacher. Did I mention that my sister had a tendency to be an overachiever?

So I just plugged my headphones into my ears and began to walk to her car to wait. As I got closer, I noticed a cherry colored Smartcar to the left of my sister's car and a lime green one on the right. I rolled my eyes. "Phf, stupid Smartcars," I muttered. I had never been attracted to the tiny cars. I leaned against the Ferrari.

Then, two boys walked up to me. They were both shorter than me but, surprisingly looked older. One was wearing a red tee shirt and black cargos. He had long hair pulled in a ponytail. Another was wearing a green sweatshirt with brown cargos. This one had shaggy blonde hair and an backwards green cap. Both were wearing very ghetto looking tennis shoes.

_Some gangsters…_ I thought through my blaring music. The two looked similar; twins maybe? The one in the red began to talk. I pulled my headphones out of my ear. "Excuse me?" I asked. I had never seen these boys around school. Maybe they were juniors?

"I said, were youse callin' these here cars lame?" he repeated with a thick southern accent.

"I don't know, I just don't like Smartcars. Sue me," I muttered.

"These ain't your normal 'Smartcars', girly," the green one said, showing me hid golden tooth. I rolled my eyes. What were these hicks doing in Middle of Nowhere, Arizona?

"Oh really," I raised an eyebrow, "how so?" The red one opened his mouth then another boy came a grabbed them by the collar.

The boy was a lot taller (he surpassed me even). He had shaggy blonde hair that had a yellow tint to it. He wore a black shirt, yellow jacket, and black jeans. "I apologize for these guys harassing you," he said, smiling at me.

"Aw, come on 'Bee," the boy in red groaned.

"No problem. I did insult their cars, after all," I reassured him.

He smiled again. "My name is Ben, but everyone calls me Bee since my favorite color is yellow," he told me. He released one of the boys and held his hand out to me. I shook it and smiled.

"I'm Brooke," I told him. Closely behind Bee, the boys were making kissing faces. I rolled my eyes at their foolishness and Bee chuckled.

"So, uh, I'll see you around?" he asked me. I nodded.

Bee smiled. "Good, I'll wait then!" he said, then walked over to a yellow Camaro. Unlike the Smartcars, I LOVED Camaros. The boys got in their Smartcars and drove off. I smiled, gleaming at the Camaro driving past me.

"I saw that," I heard. I turned to see Akila with a sly grin plastered on her face.

"Saw what?"

"I saw the way you looked at him. You like him," she smirked, unlocking her car.

I jumped in the passenger seat and rolled my eyes. "What do you know? I just met the guy. Besides, he seems like an energetic kid. I like serious guys," I retorted.

Akila just rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, and drove out of the school.

That night, I had the dream again. Or, should I say, nightmare.

* * *

_Again, sorry for the shortness. I ran out of ideas, haha. Also, if you're wondering how Akila became Brooke's sister and where Brooke's father is will be explained in later chapters, ok? So I will get to work on the next chapter and you all will get to work on reviewing, right? Haha. Oh yes! One more thing! Go to my profile and vote on the poll! It will help me proceed with the story. I plan that, after each chapter, I will make a new poll so check back often!_

_R&R!_


	3. Secret

Symbols.

That was all I was seeing.

These crazy symbols. They looked foreign, but not like anything from another countries. It just looked….foreign. They flashed through my mind like a movie. I began to toss and turn in my head. I grabbed my temples, begging for mercy. What was this? Why did it hurt so much?

Was I dying? That had to be it. There was no reasonable explanation for why I was seeing these things. Were they messages from heaven? Was I to become a Prophet?

Okay Brooke, you're freaking out here. It was a dream, right? Just a dream? No, it couldn't be, for I wouldn't be having these pains.

I jolted awake. It was midnight. My room was pitch black with a sliver of the moon shining through my curtains. I slid my pajama-clad body out of the bed. I had to walk around. Do something. Fear crept up my spine as I remembered the pain I felt. Sweat clung to the hairs on my neck.

I crept to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. "That was so weird…," I muttered. Would I have the dream again if I went to bed?

I quietly went outside and rested on the hammock tied between two trees. I began to rock myself as the soft wind nipped at my hair. "What a pretty night," I muttered, pulling my knees up to my chest.

These nightmares, the symbols…could they be caused by the thing I saw all those years ago? But how could that be? I barely even remembered the whole incident! I was just a little civilian! A kid!

Finally, I just sighed and closed my eyes. "Ugh. Could things get weirder?" I wondered.

Too late.

Suddenly, the two trees that my hammock was hanging from began to be lifted into the air. I screamed and jumped on the ground quickly. Above me was a large gray… Oh no. It was the same thing I saw when I was younger!

"Come with me sparkling," he demanded, throwing the trees over his shoulder like it was a tiny pebble.

Screaming, I began to run to my house. Somehow, I managed to outrun him and jump in my house. "This is not happening, this is not happening," I screamed, running though the house. Then, a huge RIIIIIIIIIIP! I looked over my shoulder to see the whole wall from my kitchen ripped off by the giant robot. I screamed more and banged on Akila's door.

"Akila, you lazy bum, wake up! Your life is at stake!" I yelled. The door lazily opened to show my sister in her pajamas.

"Are you insane Brooke, its midnight," she grumbled. I grabbed her upper arm and jerked her toward the kitchen. Her eyes widened and we both ran to mom's room, banging and screaming on her door.

But it was too late. The monster tore the roof off of my home like it was a Band-Aid. I could hear my mother running from through the door. She began to jiggle the lock.

Then two shots hit the monster, knocking it down. I heard it mutter, "Frag," and stand up. It looked off into the distance then glared down at Akila and I. "I'll be back, and your saviors won't always be there," he growled. My mom's door opened in a panic And before the thing took off, it did something I will never forget.

It took my mother.

"Mooom!" I screamed, running in hopes of somehow catching her. But I ran into a wall and was too late. That thing stole my mother, and it would pay.

"Brooke! Brooke, be quiet!" Akila screamed, crouching down against the door.

I fumed. "Our mother was just kidnapped and you want to be quiet! We have to go after her! What part of that don't you-"

Akila jerked me down to the floor and pinched my mouth shut. "I understand what happened," she whispered, "But right now, we need to focus on that thing that was able to take the kidnapper robot down. It had to be powerful."

I shut my mouth and waited. She had a point. Whatever took down that thing wasn't necessarily good. And with the two different blasts, it had to be more then one.

The front door opened and footsteps entered the house. Multiple footsteps. Akila and I were frozen on the floor, debris caked on our faces.

Then a bright light flooded the dark hallway we were hidden in. "Optimus, I found them!" a voice called out. The footsteps quickly turned in our direction.

I shut my eyes and Akila squeezed my hand. It wasn't bad guys. If it was, they would have killed us in our weakened state. But I was still unsure. There could be an ultimatum.

There were four figures, all men. The streetlamp outside shone a golden-tinted light on them. One was a tall man with short blue hair. He wore a black shirt, red jacket with a flame design on it, and jeans. The second was an older man with blond hair and glasses who wore a green button up shirt, black pants, and a white doctor's coat. The third, who was holding the flashlight, had shaggy black hair and a stubby beard. He wore a sleeveless shirt and jeans.

The last was... Was that Bee?

The gray haired man ran and kneeled by us. "Hm…," he muttered, examining our bodies, "They look fine save for a few cuts and bruises. The younger one seems to have deeper scars. I'm surprised he didn't take them with him." He seemed to have a British accent.

The blue haired man grabbed his chin. "This is not good. The Decepticons wouldn't just come here unless they were after something. We need to take them back to the base," he ordered.

"What are Decepticons?" Akila asked. The men turned to us as if surprised we were even talking.

"That'll all be explained later, little one," the man answered, "Ironhide you take Akila. Bumblebee, Brooke," he ordered. Bee nodded and picked me up. The gruff man handed the flashlight to the black haired man and grabbed Akila. Then we left my scorched home, never to return.

Bee carried me to his yellow Camaro. He placed me in the passenger seat and it instantly reclined once I was inside. I normally would have been shocked but a mix of fear and exhaustion engulfed me. Bee jumped in the driver's seat and drove away.

"Did you get hurt?" Bee asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. Just a little shocked, is all. Don't worry," I reassured him. He smiled and kept looking at the road.

"We'll be there soon. It's not too far away," he told me.

It seemed that, in the blink of my eye, we were there. The engine cut off and I pulled myself out of the surprisingly comfortable seat. In front of us was a large building. And by large, I mean HUGE. The door itself had to be taller than my school. A sign next to it read, 'RESTRICTED GOVERNMENT AREA. KEEP OUT'.

I noticed Akila pull out of a large black truck with the gruff man. She looked mad. "What's wrong with you?" I asked her.

"That man is a perv," she said.

"What happened?" I asked. While the man did look gruff, he looked nice also.

Akila glared at the man climbing out of the truck behind her. "He was staring at my breasts the whole ride here," she growled angrily.

The man rolled his eyes and came up to us. "I told you kid, I was trying to read the writing on your shirt. I had never seen a shirt like that before," he told her.

Akila rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. And I'm wearing sweatpants, did you get a good look at that too?" she growled. The man just rolled his eyes. I was, surprisingly, laughing at the two.

"They bicker like a married couple," I muttered to Bee, hoping they didn't here it.

"Do not!" They heard it.

The blue haired man came up with the blond haired man behind him. "Before we give them our secret, I believe introductions are in order. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," he told us. Autobots? Optimus Prime?

"I'm Ratchet, the medical officer for the Autobots," the gray haired man said.

The gruff man shot a coy smile at Akila. "I'm Ironhide, the weapon's specialist," he said, adding a wink to my sister. She growled at him and Bee and I giggled.

"And I already know you Bumblebee," I said, elbowing my friend.

"Yes, well, isn't it time to show them?" he asked Optimus. He chuckled.

"Yes, it seems like it's time. Everyone," Optimus said. Bee smiled at me and then, as if magic, everyone disappeared right in front of us.

"Um...where'd they go?" Akila asked me. I shrugged, still shocked. Then it happened, I was introduced to their secret.

The cars in front began to jerk and twist. They lifted up and metal parted until they changed into giant robots, like the one that tore up my house that night. The truck turned into a tall gray robot with various weapons all over him. Ironhide. Bee's yellow Camaro transformed into a large yellow robot a bit shorted than Ironhide. The eighteen wheeler Optimus drove transformed into a large, 28-foot-tall robot, shooting past Bee and Ironhide easily. Ratchet's ambulance form transformed into a dull yellow robot with red heart-monitor lines on it.

"We are from the planet Cybertron," Optimus said, "Which was consumed by war. Sadly, the war was brought to your planet. Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, wants to control your planet. One of his followers, Barricade, tried to destroy you two tonight and stole your mother. We need you to stay here so, if the Decepticons are to use you for something, they can't have it."

I nodded up at them. "Whoa," was all I could say.

Optimus chuckled. "For now Brooke, Bumblebee will be your protector. Ironhide will serve as Akila's protector," he assigned. Bumblebee smiled down at me.

Akila face-palmed. "Oh kill me now," she muttered. Ironhide didn't look too happy either.

"There is a human-sized guest room in the base," Ratchet said, "You'll be introduced to the others tomorrow." Akila and I nodded. Then, the plus sized door opened to reveal an oversized military-like base. Akila and I followed the Autobots who led us to a guest room.

"Goodnight," Bumblebee told me before he went to his quarters.

The rooms were separated by a wall so I immediately called the room with a television and jumped on the bed. What an eventful night! Not a happy eventful night, but eventful nonetheless. But I quickly fell asleep, not worried if the symbols would come back. I was safe.

It was that night I was introduced to a deep secret, one that had lived on years.

My life was never the same again.


	4. Day One of the New Life

"Wake up, wake up!" My eyes jolted awake to see my familiar blond guardian shaking me awake.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I grumbled, looking over at the clock next to me. 10:36! Did I really sleep that late? "Oh my gosh, I missed school!" I screamed, sitting upright.

"Relax," Bee assured me, "The government has granted you and Akila a pardon from school. You're fine."

I smiled at the thought of no school. "Awesome. Never liked school anyways," I told him. He jumped off my bed and stopped at the doorway.

"Well hurry and get dressed, Optimus is waiting in the hangar to introduce you and Akila to the others," he told me. I nodded and he left the room.

Slowly, I slid out of bed and walked towards the mirror and ran a brush through my wavy blond hair. My blue eyes were sparkling as I remembered how mom promised to give me pink highlights this summer.

Oh my dresser, I found jeans and a pink tee shirt. Akila must have gone out and bought new clothes, since they still had the tags on them. I slipped the outfit on and went outside where Bumblebee was waiting for me in his vehicle form.

I slid in the passenger seat and waited as Bumblebee drove off through the base. Then I began to ask him a lot about Cybertron and their race. When he was providing me an answer to one of my questions, I noticed select few humans were working around and assisting the Autobots. I saw Ratchet was inspecting a piece of armor on his giant doctor's table. Then Bee drove me to a larger hangar, where the large frame of Optimus Prime was waiting for us.

"Good morning Brooke," Optimus greeted as I stepped out of the car. I was shocked at him. I saw his height last night, but as I looked up at him, I was in awe. He was so tall!

"Morning, sir," I said as Bumblebee transformed into his robotic self.

Optimus chuckled. "Please, just call me Optimus. Now, I think it's time to introduce you and your sister to the other two Autobots," he told me.

My eyes widened. Akila! Where was she? "Well, where is my sister?" I wondered.

"She's with Ironhide. They should be here in a minute," Bumblebee informed me. True to his word, a large Topkick drove in the room and Akila jumped out.

"We looked at the locations of Decepticon activity as you requested, Optimus," she said. Then she turned to me, "Well good morning Brooke."

Optimus nodded. "That's good. Maybe we can get closer to finding your mother now. I believe the Decepticons have something bigger planned, something dangerous. And your mother seems only a pawn in their plans," he told us.

"But wait," Ironhide interrupted, "If Barricade wanted Akila and Brooke, why didn't he just take them?"

Optimus nodded. "A valid question. Perhaps Megatron has a plan unfolding. He wants to bring the girls to him. There is no reason that he wants their mother besides being manipulative," he said.

"So what?" I asked, "We just wait for them to let go of her?"

Optimus shook his head. "No, no. They will use her as bait. If we can use the various past Decepticon activity to pinpoint where and when they will do so, we can catch them off guard and get her back faster," he explained.

"And from what I saw on the map," Akila said, "they seem to direct their attacks towards central New York and Atlanta, two major cities in the north and south."

Optimus nodded at Ironhide. "Tell Prowl to put alert on latitude north 40 degrees 47', longitude west 73 degrees 58' and latitude north 33 degrees 46', longitude west 84 degrees 25' for any non-military jets. Starscream and Megatron may be baring in on the cities," he ordered. Ironhide nodded and went off.

"You may need to put an alert on Phoenix too," a feminine voice suggested. Akila and I turned to see another Autobot. Only this one was a lot shorter than the others; Akila and I came to about her hip. She was blue and had a soft face instead of sharp features like the male robots had. She also had smooth curves and, instead of two legs, she had one wheel.

"Why so?" Optimus asked her.

The female Autobot smiled. "Well, if Megatron wants to bait them, wouldn't he do so in there own town?" she asked.

Optimus smiled back. "Good idea Arcee. Oh yes, Arcee, meet Akila and Brooke. There home was destroyed by Barricade, so they will stay here for a bit," he explained. I smiled at her and waved.

The girl, Arcee, waved back at me. "I heard from Ironhide. By the way, good luck with him Akila," she said.

Akila rolled her eyes. "I'll need all the luck I can get," she muttered.

I turned to Optimus. "So when do you think the Decepticons attack again?" I asked him. The faster we saved mom, the better.

Optimus moved his optics (a word Bumblebee taught me) down to my height. "If only we knew, youngling. They seem to attack at random. One attack a week ago was at about 500 hours and another two weeks ago was at about 1700 hours. They attack at random and all we can do it wait until they show up," he explained to me. I nodded. These Decepticons were very tricky.

The day went by slowly. Akila and I met Sideswipe, and begun to just hang around the base. Sideswipe was watching the sensors most of the day and Bumblebee had to go off and patrol the city. Akila spent most of the day studying for school or looking at Autobot battles on Earth that were classified to the normal public. I, on the other hand, was bored to tears. The Autobots were all doing something and I, as an inexperienced human, had nothing else to do.

Finally, at about sundown, I noticed a bit of writing on the wall. It seemed similar to the writing I saw in my dream. "What is this?" I wondered aloud.

"That," I heard Ratchet's preoccupied voice behind me say, "is ancient Cybertronian, the language of the Primes. Optimus said it meant 'Victory to you' or something like that."

"Oh, I get it," I told him. 'But why in the world would I see these symbols in my dream?' I wondered.

I stayed in my room most of the day until I had to venture out of the room to find some food. Akila was feeling a bit sick and decided to take a nap. It seemed as though Prowl, Arcee, and Ratchet went into recharge early and Bumblebee was still on patrol.

"Hey Ironhide!" I yelled to the black mech. He turned around and asked what I wanted. "Is there a cafeteria or something here? I'm kinda hungry."

Ironhide moved his finger to a door across the hangar. "That way. By the way, where is Akila? I wanted to show her some old Decepticon activity I found," he asked.

I gave a half-smile. "She...is asleep early. She didn't feel too well," I told him, then rushed to the cafeteria. I could hear Ironhide whirl around as if to ask me something, but I got in the cafeteria before he could get to me.

The food at a military base was as bad as at school. The meals were all nutritional and some things looked alive. But I was able to find a small salad and pudding and able to eat it.

It was around nine o'clock when I finished. I stepped out of the cafeteria and the lights instantly turned off the second I stepped outside. 'Where the heck is Bee?' I questioned. Oh well.

I slowly walked to my room, watching for Ironhide or Bee. Neither were in sight. So I went and changed into my pajamas.

I was sitting on my bed when there was a soft knock on my door. "Who is it?" I whispered.

"It's me," a young voice called. Bee! I hopped off the bed and unlocked the door.

"What took you so long?" I asked him, lightly punching his arm.

"I'm sorry," he smiled, "but I went to see my old friend. He wants to meet you tomorrow after school, is that alright?"

I looked back at my sleeping sister than at Bee. "That'll be fine Bee," I assured. He wished me a good nights sleep and left. Smiling, I went straight to bed, eager for the day to come.

* * *

_"My lord."_

_"Starscream, what is the news?"_

_"It seems, sir, that the Autobots have the girls…"_

_"WHAT? Starscream, you bug! I send you to pick up two measly humans and you can't even do that!"_

_"Please, my lord, we have an alternative…"_


	5. Meeting the Original

"Wake up, Brooke! I'm not going to yell at you again!" I jumped out of my bed to see Akila in the bathroom applying eyeliner.

"What time is it?" I wondered, stretching out.

Akila finished her makeup and put it in her case. "It's 5:20. And you better get ready soon. We have to get to school today," she said. Then she began to run a brush through her hair.

Then it hit me. "Oh yeah, Bee's friend wants to meet me, so I'll be going there after school, okay?" I asked.

Akila nodded. "Yeah, yeah. You go have fun while I'm stuck learning Calculus. Whoo," she said with fake enthusiasm, I giggled at her and went to finish getting ready.

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, you and Ironhide could go do something. Or do you not get along yet?" I asked, pulling some jeans out of my drawer.

Akila snorted. "As if. He's still as annoying as the first day! The only thing we have in common is our interests in Decepticon attacks. I came in here to get my cell phone yesterday and his holoform followed me and picked up one of my bras! And he demanded to know what it was because he thought it was a weapon!" she ranted.

I just laughed. "Sounds like Ironhide."

Akila and I stepped out of our quarters to see Ironhide's holoform standing against his truck form.

"What's this?" Akila asked.

Ironhide stood up. "What does it look like? Optimus ordered me to take you guys to school," he grunted back.

Akila put her hands on her hips. "I can drive us, thank you very much," she told him. I just smiled and leaned against the wall; this was going to be a long fight.

Ironhide chuckled, inflaming my sister. "With what?" he asked her, "Your Ferrari that was crushed by Barricade?"

Akila's jaws dropped and so did mine. Her car really was crushed? Her first car ever? I couldn't believe it. But then Akila shut her jaw and looked at me. "Brooke, get in the back," she ordered. Not wanting to test her, I obediently did while she got in the driver's seat. But right when she touched the door, Ironhide closed it. Bad move.

"I'm driving," he said.

Akila's tan face started to turn red. "You're going to drive yourself?" she as she walked around to the passenger seat. What? Was my sister actually GIVING IN to someone else's demand? I'd never seen that before unless it was a teacher or mom. She was an angel to adults but when she got angry, she was someone not to mess with.

Ironhide jumped into the driver's seat the roared his engine. "Well, you don't expect me to stay at your slagging school all day, do you?" he asked.

I could feel the tension in the air. "So where's Bumblebee?" I asked, trying to break their fight.

Ironhide took his glare off Akila and looked back at me. "Still in recharge. Patrol wore him out last night," he told me, then went back to looking at the road. I slouched down in the seat and fidgeted with the buckles on my book bag. This was going to be a long drive.

"So why even let us go to school?" Akila asked Ironhide, breaking the blessed silence that only lasted about five minutes, "We're in danger from the Decepticons and you guys have the greatest computers in the world. Wouldn't it be easier just to let us take online classes and keep us out of the threat of Decepticons?"

Ironhide smirked. "My thoughts exactly. However, both the government and Optimus believe that you two should live as normal of a life as you can," he explained, "Nevertheless, we have reprogrammed your cellular phones with our comm. numbers, so if either of you are in danger, you can call or, as you humans say, 'text' us."

I smiled up at Akila. "We can tweet his Facebook," I said, reminding my sister of what my grandfather said to us. Akila laughed at me while still trying to look at the road.

Ironhide looked confused but nodded. "Then, you may, as you say, 'tweet my Facebook'," he said, probably thinking that that meant contacting him. We just laughed even harder. Ironhide looked frustrated.

Finally, we arrived at the school. Many students stared at Ironhide's alt. form but wejust shrugged them off. It wasn't every day you saw kids drive to school in a Ferrari, then skip school, then come back in a GMC Topkick.

So Akila and I got out of Ironhide and started to walk to school. "Watch out for jets!" he yelled after us. Akila just rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. I laughed hard, wondering where she got the audacity to act so rude to the weapons specialist.

Apparently, when I missed yesterday, I missed a review quiz over the Pythagorean Theorem and angles in math, a two-page essay in Language Arts on our greatest adventure (which, of course, I had to lie about and say my greatest adventure was camping in the Safari in Africa when I was twelve), and a two-page review on electricity and energy in science. I opted not to take human geography for my freshman year with saved me a lot of trouble, for my friends said they had a three-page review to do.

School ended and I met Bee in the parking lot. Across the place, I noticed Ironhide waiting for Akila.

"So how was your day?" Bee asked when I slid in his passenger seat.

I groaned. "It was long and boring. I have so much homework to do," I complained.

"Don't worry, be happy," Bobby McFerrin's voice sang out to me. I jumped back a bit. I knew that, as cars, the Autobots had radios but I never thought they'd use them. Then I noticed my iPod sitting on the consol.

"So I guess that means you downloaded all of the songs off of my iPod?" I asked. The Camaro rocked up and down, Like he was shaking his head yes. How did he get all my song? My iPod was with me all day and I'd only been in the car for a minute! Sighing, I rubbed my head. "I'm not even surprised anymore."

"I've got the magic in me!" the radio sang.

I smiled. "Ok, fine, at least talk regularly some of the time, because it's kinda hard to speak to...uh...music," I told him.

"As you wish," Bee told me, and we were on our way. He began to play 'Life is a Highway' as we turned onto the familiar desert Arizona roads. I worked on my homework the way there and, luckily, I finished it all. Just in time too, because we pulled up to a large, 2-story house.

A man in his late twenties stepped out. He was about 5' 8" with short blond hair and a light stubble. Next to him came a girl also in her late twenties with curly black hair and a perfect, beautiful face. They were holding hands and each had a wedding ring on their fingers, so I guessed they were married.

I slid out of Bee and his holoform came out too. We walked up to the couple and Bee gave the man a handshake and the girl gave him a hug.

"Nice to meet you," the man said, extending a hand to me, "I'm Sam Witwicky and this is my wife, Michaela. You must be Brooke; Bee's told us that you and your sister are staying with the Autobots."

I smiled and shook his hand. "Yeah, well, Barricade destroyed our house so there's not anywhere else for us to go," I told him. I didn't say anything about my mother, for I didn't want to think about her.

Sam invited us inside and, while Michaela showed Bee the garage (which held various junk cars), Sam pulled me aside into his living room.

"So how are you getting along with the other Autobots?" he asked.

I tapped my chin. "Well, I think Ironhide likes me, since he is Akila's protector. I really don't know much about Optimus, Ratchet, Arcee, or Sideswipe," I told him. Then I frowned, realizing how little I knew about the people I lived with.

Sam smiled. "That's fine," he assured, sensing my depression, "I didn't know much about the Autobots at first either. Optimus is really easy to get along with; he probably is upset you and your sister got involved in their war. Ratchet is a grump, but if you don't act too crazy and out of control around him you should earn some respect. Sideswipe is somewhat quiet but he's pretty cocky in battle. But he's a formidable foe, so don't underestimate him. Arcee is pretty friendly, but she is pretty awesome in battle despite her size. All the Autobots like humans, so you'll gain their friendship soon."

I nodded, wondering if I should be taking notes or not. "Thanks a lot. And...what about Bee, you know? You and him seem pretty close," I noticed.

Sam laughed. "Bumblebee was my guardian. Then after the Fallen was killed and the Decepticons halted their attacks for a while, our Guardian Bond weakened and Bee went to being a Scout again. Bee's formed a bond with you, so he's your guardian now," he explained.

I nodded. "That explains it," I said. I couldn't imagine what Sam was talking about with the 'Fallen', but I felt as if I didn't want to know. The only thing with Decepticons that I should be worrying about was finding my mother.

After that, Bee and Michaela met with Sam and I in the living room. Once reunited, Sam and Michaela recalled stories of when they first met the Autobots. They were humorous, such as stories of Ratchet running into the electrical lines. But Sam had no stories of Sideswipe, for the Autobot had just recently arrived a couple of years ago.

"Sides is looking for his brother, Sunstreaker. He said Sunstreaker is somewhere in space, looking for remaining Autobots, as Sides once was. He seems pretty depressed about it," Bee told us.

After a bit more stories, Bee noticed the setting sun and realized we had to go. Sam gave me a nudge and Bee and I left. Bee started playing my most played songs from my iPod, but I was too deep in thought to realize it.

"Hey Bee, who's the Fallen?" I finally asked. The music came to a halt.

"He was...a Prime. An ancestor of Optimus," Bee muttered. I doubt he could find a song that explained that.

"Wait, if he was a Prime, why is he called the 'Fallen'? It doesn't sound like a very positive name..."

"No one can help me tame this animal I have become," a heavy metal voice rang out. The meaning clicked in my head. This, the Fallen, must have been a good person (or robot?) then turned against everyone.

"Ask Optimus if you have any other questions...I don't know how much I can tell you," he finally said. I nodded and the music began again. The ride to the base was short, so it only lasted a few songs. When I got out of Bee, he transformed into his bipedal mode.

"So what did you think of Sam?" Bee asked me.

I shrugged. "He seemed nice. A little awkward but, as I've seen with you guys, there seems to be more than meets the eye with everyone," I muttered. More than meets the eye? Gee, way to be cheesy Brooke. "Anyways, I was wondering where the Autobot archives were. I heard Akila talk about looking at Decepticon attacks on there, so I was wondering if I could take a look."

Bee smiled and pointed to a large door across the hall. "Past that door. "Sure. But tomorrow, Optimus wanted me to teach you some defense skills in case of a Decepticon attack," he said. I told Bee that it sounded like a plan then ran off to the archives.

The archives were like a giant computer. The bottom had a small keyboard and mouse while a large screen, larger than the whole height of my room, rested at the top. I shuffled the mouse and it asked for my name, which I typed in. It changed to a bunch of codes then 'Clearance Type: D' and I was in. The archives were like a giant factual Wikipedia article. Places, events, people, they were all there. And every article led to another. I learned more about the Fallen and his role in the Sun Harvester, a horrible weapon created by the Primes to steal our sun. That led me to Megatron, then Optimus, then Cybertron, the 'Primus' himself. Primus seemed to be like God to Cybertronians. I kept searching, but I got 'Access Denied' on a couple of pages.

"What are you doing in the archives?" a voice asked. I turned to see a tall mech with wheels for feet. Sideswipe, I remember.

"Oh, you know, doing some research," I told him.

"And what would a girl like you be doing researching the Fallen and Primus?" he asked. If he was a human, an eyebrow would probably be raised.

"Seeing if I can figure out what the Decepticons are planning and seeing that the kidnapping of my mother had anything to do with me," I said. Then I raised an eyebrow, "What is a 'bot like YOU doing in the archives?"

Sideswipe chuckled nervously. "Nothing. Just," I sent him a 'tell-me-the-truth-or-I'll-make-you' glare and he sighed, "Fine, I was going to check the space regions the Autobots have checked already to see if I can find my brother Sunstreaker."

I smiled and typed in 'Space Regions' in the search bar. "Well, let's see here!" I told him. He looked over my shoulder and we spent about 30 or 40 minutes looking at all the regions. I looked at the clock: 10 o'clock. So I called it a night and began to leave.

"Hey Brooke," Sides called out. I asked what he wanted. "Thanks for tonight," he said simply then left. I went to my room to see Akila, who was going crazy with a gun (not shooting it, of course).

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

Akila smiled and twirled it. "Lennox gave it to me for protection," she said.

I smiled and jumped on my bed. "Just don't shoot anyone," I said.

"Other than Ironhide," Akila winked.

* * *

_ Hope you like the new chap! P.S. I put Prowl as an Autobot but it's supposed to be Sideswipe since he was in TF2_

_ Songs:_  
_ Don't Worry, Be Happy- Bobby McFerrin_  
_ Magic- B.O.B_  
_ Animal I Have Become- Three Days Grace_


	6. First Encounter

_THANK YOU Ironhide and Lennox , the ONLY person who commented on this story, on both deviantart and fanfiction. This is for you!_

* * *

That night, I had another dream. But this time, with the time I spent on the archives, I knew who the people were.

A tall, thin silver robot with wings stood kneeled to a larger gray robot with a pointed face. I recognized the larger one instantly as Megatron. He was the one from my dreams earlier.

"Any news from Barricade as to the location of the human?" Megatron asked.

"No, Lord Megatron, not yet. But we are planning a mediocre attack that could draw the location of the girl to us," the thin robot said. I couldn't tell who he was, for his face was in the shadows.

"Good, good Starscream," Ah. That's his name. "And if you take the girl's femme creator with you, she will force herself to come." Megatron's vile laugh scared me.

What were they planning? Were they talking about me or Akila? And...femme creator? Where they talking about mom?

"She won't fall for that," I heard a soft voice say. I recognized that voice. Mom? "My daughter is smarter than that. And if these 'Autobots' that she is with are as clever as you make them seem, they'll outsmart you and your plans will fail." Megatron smirked and Starscream shot up.

"How dare you speak to Lord Megatron like that you organic insect!" Starscream yelled. Megatron held up a hand to silence the mech.

"She's just nervous Starscream," he said slowly, "We need to...get her ready to meet these clever Autobots." He pulled out one claw of his hand.

My vision blacked out, but I could hear my mother's cries of agony.

I jumped up from the bed, panting heavily and sweating. Akila was up already watching TV, so she shot curious eyes at me.

"Mom's in trouble," I said. Akila muted the TV, rushed over to my bed, and asked what I meant. "I saw... Megatron and Starscream were discussing an attack that would draw one of us to him. Mom retaliated and said that her daughter wouldn't fall for their traps. Then... I heard her screaming bloody murder."

Akila froze. "Relax Brooke, it was only a dream. It doesn't necessarily mean the Decepticons are really planning something-"

"But it was all too real!" I interrupted, "I could feel the night breeze, I could feel the tension in the room! Plus, how can I dream about Megatron and Starscream if I have never met them?"

Akila tapped her chin, pondering. Finally, she said, "You should probably go tell Optimus. If they were attacking mom and talking about an attack, it could happen today and it would be good if the Autobots were warned."

I nodded and slid off my bed to the door. I stepped outside and slid down to sit. Soldiers walked and rode tanks by, practicing and preparing. Sideswipe began to walk by and I jumped up.

"Sides! Do you know where Optimus is?" I asked. Sideswipe stopped and smiled at me.

"Oh, he's outside," he told me. I nodded and ran down the metal stairs to the human door outside. True to Sideswipe's word, there was the giant Peterbilt form of Optimus with his holoform leaning against it.

"Hey Optimus," I said. The black haired man turned to me and smiled.

"Ah, good morning Brooke. Is something the matter?" he asked.

I looked over at the soldiers nearby. "Can we go somewhere...more private?" I asked. I think the dream should be between Optimus and I, not the soldiers.

"Very well," the Peterbilt's passenger door opened and Optimus beckoned to it, "let's go for a drive then."

Once I got inside, I was shocked. The Peterbilt had a very large and spacious room inside with a single soft bed in the back. When Optimus's holoform and I got in, the engine roared to life and we were off. The ride was relatively short as we drove to the city. Finally, he pulled into an old torn down gas station and shut the engine off.

"We are entirely alone," he declared.

I proceeded to tell Optimus about my dream. He listened intently, not missing a word or blinking once. Near the end of the story, when I got to the part of hearing my mom screaming, I started tearing up. Her scream kept ringing in my ear.

A tear rolled down my cheek and Optimus wiped it away. "Relax Brooke. You seem very shaken up about this. It was just a dream. But still, it wouldn't hurt to prepare our troops for an attack," he told me.

"But what if you prepare them and the attack never comes?" I sniffled, "Then my dream would mean nothing at all!"

Optimus sighed. "It is better to be prepared for an attack that may never come than be unprepared for a large battle," he said. I nodded; I guess it made sense. Then Optimus put a hand on my shoulder. "If you have any more of these dreams, Brooke, please come to me," he assured.

I nodded, "OK Optimus."

The engine roared to life again. "Okay then, let's get back to-"

BAM!

The gas station in front of us got crushed by a giant metallic foot. I fell back in the seat and Optimus drove back a bit. "Brooke," he said with his leader tone of voice, "when I say go, get into the driver's seat and jump out. Run to the tree over there and stay put." I nodded at the plan. "Go!" he yelled. His holoform disappeared and I did exactly what Optimus said. Once I got out of the truck, I started to run, but got tripped by a fallen piece of gas station debris. Quickly, I looked behind my back to see the skinny silver robot from my dreams: Starscream!

"Ah, just the human I was looking for," Starscream laughed, "Come here, little femme." A silver clawed hand reached out for me and I was frozen in fear. But when it got close to me, a large shot was heard and it hit his hand. Starscream squealed in agony then glared at the source of the shot: Optimus with his battle mask on. Starscream muttered a Cybertronian curse at the Autobot leader and went to fight.

I took the time to run to the nearest tree and jumped behind it. The tree I found was large enough to hide me behind it if I crouched down. So I crouched then began to looked out from the tree to watch Optimus and Starscream fight. Starscream punched Optimus in the face, making the large Autobot stumble back. Then, Optimus extended a large orange blade from his left arm. He used it to slice a bit of the arm that punched him off of Starscream.

"Awesome!" I screamed at the glowing blade. It looked super sharp and it cut off a slice of Starscream very easily. Bad move. Optimus turned to me only to get hit with an uppercut from Starscream. I screamed the leader's name but Starscream ran up to him and laid a foot on his chest.

"Now I, the all-powerful Starscream, will destroy Optimus Prime!" he screamed. My eyes widened. He wouldn't really kill Optimus, would he?

"Brooke!" I heard a voice scream. I turned to see a familiar face: my mom. She was tried up high on a tree, standing on a mechanical platform. I could climb up the tree and save her, but that would cause me to leave Optimus and have him be killed.

"Hey! Ice-cream!" I screamed, throwing a rock at Starscream. It bounced off him with a 'ting' then he turned and glared at me.

That split second that Starscream glared at me was just enough Optimus needed. He lifted his arm and shot Starscream in the shoulder, making the robot stumble back. Optimus stood up then gave Starscream a swift kick to the side. He then used both of his arm cannons to fire at the silver Decepticon.

"It seems that I have come at a bad time," Starscream growled, "Your human pet saved you this time, Autobot scum, but next time you might not be so lucky." With that, Starscream reached up and grabbed my mom with his claws.

"Mom!" I screamed, running towards Starscream. A warm metal hand wrapped around me and held me back from my mother. Then Starscream did a flip, transformed into a jet, and flew off with my mother. I was so close.

I looked at the source of the hand to see Optimus staring at the direction Starscream flew off in. Then he turned and looked down at me. "Why?" he asked.

I looked up at him, trying to take my mom off my mind. "Why what?" I replied.

"You risked your life to save me, yet you've only known of our existence for a few days," he explained.

I shrugged. "I don't know; you are the Autobot leader, without you the Decepticons would take over," I informed him.

"No sacrifice, no victory," Optimus muttered, then turned behind his shoulder. A yellow Camaro and two Smartcars-one red, one green- drove near up. Then they transformed to show Bumblebee then the smart cars transformed into two very short Autobots with buck teeth. They were only about two or three feet taller than me.

"Are we's late for da fight?" the red robot asked.

The green one smacked him. "Of course we late, does youse see a Decepticreep anywhere 'round here?" he mocked.

But I recognized those voices. They seemed really familiar... WAIT! They were the boys with the Smartcars at the parking lot in the school!

"Brooke," Optimus said, "This is Skids and Mudflap. I heard that you have already met them." he referred to the green one then the red one and their names seemed to fit their ghetto attitude.

Then Bee walked over to me. "Are you alright?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "Yep, everything's intact!" I assured him. All of the robots transformed back to their car modes and I hopped in Bumblebee.

We began to drive back to the base and Bee started to ask me what happened. I explained everything, leaving out the part about my dream. I figured that no one needed to know about my dreams and the prophesies they contained except for Akila and Optimus. Maybe I would tell him later on, but after I could figure out what these dreams were from.

"Will this happen often Bee? You know, the Decepticon attacks and whatnot?" I asked.

My iPod lit up and music blasted through the speakers. "It just takes some time. Little girl you're in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine," the song said. I smiled at him; I loved this song. Once we got to the base, I noticed Ironhide and Akila were gone. Akila, unknown to the fact that a Decepticon had attacked Optimus and I, went to school alone. I could only imagine how well that meant.

Everyone transformed when we got in the base. "Bumblebee, I want you and Ironhide to stay at the school today to watch over Akila and Brooke," Optimus ordered, "And afterwards, bring the girls to me." Bee nodded then waited outside my room for me to change clothes for school. After I got dressed in a black take top, jean jacket, skinny jeans, and flip-flops, I ran outside with my backpack and jumped in Bee. He drove me to school while playing old familiar Disney songs. Finally we got to my school and I ran out, noticing Ironhide's bulky form looming over a VW Bug nearby.

School was a regular day, I guess. Student Council was advertising the 'Welcome Freshmen!' dance for freshmen only. I doubted I would go; the prospect of a dance just didn't work for me.

As I was considering the dance, I accidentally ran into someone and dropped my books. "Oh, I'm sorry," I said, looking up. In front of me was a fellow freshman boy who had shaggy blond hair and a school sweatshirt.

"No, it's my bad," he said, kneeling down and getting my books, "You seemed caught up in something. My name's Declan. You are?"

"Brooke," I introduced, getting my books. I started to walk out but Declan followed me.

"So...don't I have a class with you?" he tapped his chin then snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah, Algebra!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I didn't notice you because I'm usually asleep in that class," I said as we walked outside.

"Yeah, well, if you want any help, I do pretty good in Algebra. I could help you," he offered. I looked up to see that beautiful blond hair blowing in the wind. Was I crushing?

"Yeah, sure, that'd be great," I said, smiling. I walked over to Bee (whose holoform was inactive, so I had to get in the driver's seat.  
Declan looked at my car in awe. "THAT is an amazing Camaro!" he said. I asked him what kind of car he had. "Oh, just that old Taurus over there." He pointed to a white car far at the back of parking lot.

"Oh well, would you like a ride over to it?" I asked.

Declan smiled and nodded. "Sure, thanks Brooke," he said, then got in the passenger seat. Bee roared to life and we pulled out of the spot.

'_Come on Bee, don't do anything funny,_' I silently thought. Declan's car wasn't THAT far away, but far enough that something could go wrong.

"Hold my hand! Baby, I promise that I'll do all I can!" the radio sang. Of course; what was more romantic than Michael Jackson? What was next, 'I'll Be There?'

Declan looked at me. "I'm sorry, my car has a radio malfunction," I lied.

"Baby, I like it, the way you move on the floor! Baby, I like it, come on and give me some more!" he sang again.

I put a death grip on the wheel. "I'm thinking about removing the radio completely, I know a mechanic who would be glad to take it out for me," I said, hissing a silent threat. The radio clicked off and we drove in silence to Declan's car. He jumped out.

"So do you want to go to the library tomorrow? I can help you with Algebra if you want," he offered.

I smiled. "Yeah, that'd be fine," I said.

Declan smiled and tapped the car. "Great. It's a date," he said, tossing a paper with what I think was his number at me. I wrote my number down and gave it to him. Right as I handed it to him, Bee quickly pulled out of the parking lot which almost made Declan trip.

"I'm sorry!" I called from the window. He said he was fine and Bee drove out of the school and onto the road. I slid into the passenger seat and Bee activated his holoform.

"WHAT was that about, Bee? Hold My Hand? I Like It? Could you not just be a quiet car while a cute boy was here?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," a harmonized boy group sang.

I face-palmed. "Bee, the Jonas Brothers are not going to make me feel better!" I yelled.

"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" a high voice called from the radio.

"OK, fine, let's just go," I said, leaning back in the seat. Bee began to play soft Owl City songs as we drove back to base.

Once inside, Bee drove me to a large steel room with a silver birth in the middle and a desk. Optimus and Akila were talking silently with Ironhide behind Akila. This must have been Optimus's Quarters.

I hopped out of Bee and he transformed. "Ah, Bumblebee, Brooke. Good, you came," Optimus said, "May I ask what took you?" he asked.

"You spin me right round, baby, right round. Like a record baby, right round, round, round," Bee sang. I rolled my eyes and Akila smiled at me with a 'you-will-tell-me-all-the-details-later' look.

"Anyway," Optimus continued, "as I was explaining to Ironhide and Akila, with the recent news of the Decepticons, both the government and myself have agreed that it would be best if you both didn't go to school for a while. If Starscream or Barricade come to your school when we are away patrolling the city, there would be nothing we could do."

"But this is my senior year!" Akila exclaimed.

"Major Lennox has suggested an online school for you girls," Optimus answered.

I gaped my mouth. "But I'm supposed to be going to the library with Declan tomorrow!" I protested.

"Is this Declan boy good? How do you know he's not a Decepticon?" Ironhide asked, crossing his arms.

I glared at him. "Not everyone is a Decepticon, Ironhide. The only Decepticons are Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave, and they can't be everywhere at once. Besides, why would Megatron disguise himself as a teenage boy?" I asked. Ironhide grumbled something under his breath but it was muffled.

"Fine, then," Akila said, jumping in the glare Ironhide and I were giving each other, "What if Brooke just went to school tomorrow then that's it, huh? Optimus?"

Optimus seemed hesitant but nodded. "I suppose one day would be okay. But if there is any Decepticon activity, then Bumblebee will pull Brooke out of the school immediately, alright?" he offered.

I nodded. "Sounds good. I mean, I still have his number so I can see him elsewhere," I said. After that little meeting, Bee and I left Optimus's Quarters. I went to my room and changed out of my pajamas and into my school clothes. Outside, soldiers drummed around the base, checking weaponry and just hanging out with others.

"Hey Brooke!" I heard someone yell. I saw a middle aged man with short brown hair running towards me. "I'm Will Lennox, the major at N.E.S.T. I've heard a lot about you, but never actually met you," he introduced, stretching out a hand.

I smiled and shook it. "Well then, it's nice to meet you, major. I guess I'll be stickin' around for while, so I guess I better meet some of the military guys around here," I said.

Lennox smiled then looked down at my right arm. "That's a pretty nasty cut," he muttered. I cocked my head quizzically at him; what cut? Then I looked at my arm to see a long scrape running from my elbow to my wrist on the side not visible to me. I put on my jacket after the fight, so no wonder I didn't notice it.

"Ouch," I muttered, "I didn't notice that before. Eh, it's fine." Bee transformed and activated his holoform to come see me. He checked out the scar with urgency.

"It looks pretty bad," Lennox said, "we might want to take you to Ratchet to get it bandaged." Lennox and I jumped in Bee's alt form and he drove up to Ratchet's med bay.

Once we got there, Bee transformed and knocked on the door. "If you are the twins and you damaged your armor again, so away," a grouchy voice called from inside.

"Just us, doc-bot!" Bee said, opening the door and letting us in.

"Oh, Bumblebee, what's wrong?" Ratchet asked, dropping a large wrench that he was about to chuck at the door. Note to self: do NOT upset him!

"I seemed to have gotten a cut. I think it's fine, but my overprotective guardian here begs to differ," I said, nudging Bee.

Ratchet lowered his hand for me and lifted me onto an oversized Autobot counter. I stood there while Ratchet looked at my arm.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, eyeing me.

I shrugged. "I guess from falling in the debris at the battle this morning," I said. Ratchet grabbed a small, human-sized gauze and wrapped it around my art where the scar was. Afterwards I was taken down from the counter and looked at my phone. I had a text from a number not registered in my phone. I clicked 'read' and it said, 'Hey Brooke, its Declan. You wanna go to Pizza Hut at six?"

I smiled and texted back, 'Yeah sure. Ill be there!'

After the visit to the Medical Bay, I went to do my homework. I learned from other student's mistakes that my Human Geography teacher would NOT accept any excuse for lack of homework. Not even "I was attacked by a giant 20-something-foot robot who tried to kill me and I was too traumatized to do my homework." Not that I would use that, but still. My other teachers accepted late work, but not this guy, Mr. Adams.

After I did my homework and goofed off on the internet, it was five. I went outside only to learn that Bee has taken the patrol for that night since I was doing homework. So, I found Akila in the shooting range.

"Hey, can I borrow Ironhide for a bit?" I asked, entwining my fingers together.

Akila smiled and put a hand on her hip. "And why so?" she asked.

"Because Bee is on patrol and I need a ride to Pizza Hut," I explained. Ironhide stepped behind Akila, whirling his cannons from shot practice.

"As fun as it would be to take you to a teenage place of meeting, I have to stay and teach Akila not to blow a hole in the roof," he said. Akila glared at him but he pointed up to the roof where a hole opened to the night sky.

"Well is there anyone else who could drive me?" I asked.

"The twins are your only choice," he said.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "Are you INSANE? If I take those twins to see Declan, they'll scare him off!" I yelled.

Ironhide shrugged and shot at another target. "Well, Ratchet is repairing Optimus's damage from the battle, Sideswipe and Arcee are familiarizing themselves with human customs, and Bumblebee is out patrolling," he explained. I face-palmed. They really were my old choice.

I googled the location of the Pizza Hut we were going to and noticed a gun store nearby. I smiled at my brilliant plan then ran down to Skids and Mudflap's quarters. I knocked on their door, heard numerous "Hide the stuff!" and finally Mudflap opened the door.

"How would you feel about having a cool trip combining human cultures and what you guys love at the same time?" I asked.

Skids walked in the doorway. "We're listenin'," he said.

"Weeell," I continued, "I have to go to this pizza joint tonight, totally lame I know, but nearby there is a gun store, so I thought it would be a cool time to see the city, you know?"

Skids and Mudflap looked at each other suspiciously.

"Thanks for driving me," I said again, sitting in a red Smartcar.

"Yeah, yeah, we're just here for the guns," Mudflap stated. Finally, he pulled up to Pizza Hut with Skids behind us and we, as in me and their holoforms, stepped out.

"The store is right around the corner. I'll be here," I told them. They nodded and ran off around the corner. I straightened the shirt I was wearing and walked inside. Sitting at a two-person table was Declan. He beamed as soon as he saw me and stood up.

"Hey Brooke," he said, puling out the chair across from him. I smiled and sat down, greeting him. "I ordered pepperoni, if you don't mind," he said.

I smiled and nodded. "Oh, no problem. I love pepperoni," I assured him. Out conversation started with small talk, such as the teachers we had, but evolved as to where we were born and such. Declan was born and raised in Arizona, so I wasn't surprised when he was intrigued that I had been in most every country around the world. He asked me all these questions about African tribes, the Taj Mahal (one of my favorite places), and living in Tokyo for a couple of years.

After a while, a man in a white apron came and set down two large pieces of pizza in front of us. "Pizza a la pepperoni, madam," he said, taking my hand and kissing my fingers. Declan glared at him while I giggled and he left.

"Excuse him," Declan said, "That's my brother. I get free stuff here all the time so I came here and he decided to tease me." I chuckled, said it was fine, and began eating. By the time we finished eating, it was about eight o'clock because we talked so much and got dessert.

We walked outside and Skids and Mudflap were gone. "Where could they be?" I wondered out loud.

"Who?" Declan asked.

"My...cousins. They drove me here," I said. Soon, two Smartcars came barreling down the street and screeched to a halt in front of the Pizza Hut. "And that would be them," I groaned. Declan smiled at the Smartcars then looked back at me.

"Well, then, I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, totally," I replied. Declan smiled and kissed my cheek, making me turn completely red. Like, tomato red.

I stood dazed for a moment but a honk woke me up and I walked into the car. We ran off and I was still smiling like an idiot.

Then I looked over at Mudflap's holoform and the red Autobot symbol on his arm. "_Where_ did you get that?" I demanded.

Mudflap looked at his arm he smiled at me. "Like it, girly? Skids got one too; it's green," he said.

"Where did you get it done?"

"A tat place down da road. Said it was my first time with a tat and I ain't flinched once, neither did Skids," he said in pride.

I face-palmed. "That's keeping a low-profile. You think Optimus will like that?" I asked, knowing I was in trouble by at least _one_ of the Autobots.

We drove back to the base and I ran up to my rood. I wish I was like a cliché girl in the movies who ran up to her room to write in her diary. My entry would say: '_Dear Diary, I love my life. Love, Brooke_.' Instead, like a normal girl, I checked my email and went to sleep. I was super excited for tomorrow's date. Study date. Whatever.

* * *

_Here it is! Now, I WANT A FEW COMMENTS! Come on, just one? For some reason, the last chap must have sucked, because only one fanfiction-er commented on the last chap and no Deviants. What the heck? _

_So, the next chapter has a kick-ass plot and I'm not gonna post it until at least one Deviant and one Fanfiction-er comments/reviews. _

_Songs:_

_The Middle- Jimmy Eat World  
Hold My Hand- Michal Jackson and Akon  
I Like It- Enrique Iglesias  
Sorry- Jonas Brothers  
_

_Right Round- Better Alive _


	7. Meeting With Fate

_Thank you, Fanfiction reviewers! You guys were the only ones that ACTUALLY replied to my stories! The only reason I'm posting this is because ONE person on DeviantART favorited the last chapter. And sorry I haven't updated, I've been busy with end of the year stuff and Color Guard stuff so yeah. R&R~!_

* * *

For once, my dream wasn't about Decepticons torturing my mother.

_A yellow Corvette Stingray Concept car with a white racing stripe down the frame raced through downtown New York. The ads for Coke and The Lion King Broadway show flashed off the windows of the car. The moon also reflected in the shiny paint job._

_People stopped to stare at the car, muttering things like 'I wish I could afford that' or 'OMG, that's a Corvette!'._

_The car drove past the city and into the dark rural farm land. I was surprised there was farmland anywhere near New York, but I had never been there so I couldn't talk._

_Once it got far enough from the city, he transformed. It wasn't uncommon for my life, but I was half-expecting an actual human to come out of the car._

_The robot was like a yellow version of Sideswipe. He was about 15 feet tall with a bulky build and bright blue optics._

"_Ah, Sunstreaker, how is my favorite Autobot?" a sinister voice called out to the darkness. Sunstreaker? As in Sideswipe's brother?_

"_Where are the Autobots, Starscream? Where is my brother?" Sunstreaker demanded._

_Starscream ignored him. "Where have you been Sunstreaker? I missed our previous battles. You are one of the only Autobots who ever offered a challenge," he said._

"_I've never personally battled you Starscream," Sunstreaker growled, "And while I would love to kick your aft, you're not my top priority right now."_

_Starscream chuckled. "Maybe I will be," he said. He then pointed his gun and shot it at the yellow Autobot. Sunstreaker dodged it easily._

"_Hey! Watch the paint!" the yellow 'bot yelled, and whirled his cannons._

_He ran up to Starscream and punched the mech in his face. Starscream took a step back then swung his fist. Sunstreaker fell on his back and Starscream walked over him. With a grin, he drew a sharp claw and made a large scratch on his chest. Sunstreaker screamed out, but he seemed more upset about his paint job than the pain._

"_Tell your Autobots," Starscream growled, "that their doom is fast approaching. And this time, they won't have the Allspark to save them." My vision went black as I saw Starscream jump up, transform, and fly away._

For once since I moved to the base, I didn't wake up screaming. I woke up to the creative jingle of a ringtone on my phone.

"Ugh! Turn it off! I don't go to school anymore, remember? Let me sleep!" Akila groaned, flipping around on her bed. I rolled my eyes and shut off the alarm. I slipped on my slippers and went out of our quarters to the cafeteria. Soldiers were just waking too, I noticed by the lack of them in the cafeteria. I grabbed some eggs off the table and then walked over to a deserted table then began to eat.

"Well good morning," I heard Bee say behind me.

"Oh, hey Bee. Morning," I said. Bee's holoform slid next to me, grabbed one of my tater tots, and shoved it in his mouth. "Hey!" I yelled in protest.

"What? It's payback for me driving you to school, how about that?" he asked. I laughed and nudged him in the stomach.

"Well then, that'll be the last tater tot you get then," I said. "Oh yeah, Declan is gonna be picking me up from school." Bee looked a little disappointed but then perked up.

"When you come back, Optimus told me to teach you how to use a gun, ok?" he asked.

I smiled. "Yeah, that'd be great! I don't go to school tomorrow, so we can stay up as late as we want shooting things, good?" I asked. Bee beamed and I ruffled his blond hair.

After I ate, I snuck in my room and quietly got dressed, careful not to wake Akila. As I was putting on makeup, the door to our quarters swung open to reveal Ironhide's holoform.

"Hey! Could you be a bit more quiet? 'Kila's trying to sleep!" I whispered angerly. Ironhide shrugged and walked over to Akila.

"It's almost seven o'clock; what is she still doing still asleep?" Ironhide asked.

"She sleeps late, you're gonna have to get used to it," I told him. Ironhide ignored me and started shaking Akila to get her awake.

So quickly that it made Ironhide jump, Akila grabbed his wrist. I froze. This was what she usually did when I tried to wake her. She flipped Ironhide over her and to the other side of the bed. She turned, towering over the shocked form of Ironhide.

"Didn't I tell you not to-" Akila stopped when she noticed that it wasn't me who she had caught. Ironhide gave a 'pervy' smile and winked at my sister.

"Well good morning to you too," he said, sitting up and making their faces only inches apart. Akila bushed and pulled away while Ironhide stayed, smiling.

I ignored the two of them and went back to getting ready. Afterwards, I left my quarters (Ironhide and Akila STILL arguing) and Bee drove me to school.

Most people say that their last day of school was amazing, full of wonders and parties. Except that since this was technically only the end of the first week of school and only MY last day, the day was rather boring. In the week I had been at school, no one really reached out to befriend me except for Declan, who partnered with me in Algebra and sat with me a lunch. This would be my last meal at the school cafeteria, but then again, the food on the base was not much better.

After class, Declan texted saying he'd be about 10 minutes late from his English class because he had to finish up his assignment. So I hung out at my locker, getting everything out and stuffing it in my backpack. After I finished I looked over to see my Human Geography teacher struggling with various books and reports. I went up to him.

"Do you need some help?" I asked.

The man gave me a bright grin. "That would be a great help, young one, thank you," he said. I took some boxes and followed the teacher out to the car in the teacher's parking lot. He led me to a nice new black and white police car.

"My car is in the shop and my roommate is a cop. She didn't have to work today so she let me borrow it," he explained. I nodded and helped him slide the reports into the trunk. Then he opened the back door and slid one last box in.

I looked at the strange writing on the back window. "'To punish and enslave'? Is your roommate part of the FBI or something?" I asked.

The teacher turned and looked at me. "I thought you'd figure it out by now." He put his arm on the backseat door. "Now get in the car."

I noticed how the teacher's eyes turned from deep black to a glowing red. Red... Decepticon!

"What do you want with me?" I growled a bit.

The Decepticon chuckled. "You'll see," he said, "Now get in the slagging car."

I glared at him. Then, I heard someone shout "Brooke!" Both the Decepticon and I turned to see Declan running towards me.

"Declan! Go to your car, I'll be right there!" I yelled. That didn't stop him. Declan ran straight to us then put an arm around me.

"Is there a problem?" Declan asked the Decepticon. I stared wide-eyed at the holoform, hoping he didn't do anything.

"Nothing, boy. Now leave so I can have a chat with your girlfriend here," he growled.

"I'm not his girlfriend," I mumbled.

"Well Brooke and I kind of have an appointment to keep, so if you'll excuse us..." Declan tried to drag me away but the Decepticon grabbed his arm so hard that it turned red instantly. Declan looked up at the thing and it's glowing red eyes. "What are you?" Declan asked.

The Decepticon smiled. "Your worst nightmare," he said and threw Declan and I in the back seat of the car. The doors locked and the seat belt tightened around us. I struggled against the belts and Declan was panicing.

"What the hell is going on?" Declan yelled as the police car started to life and drove away from the school.

"The Human Geo teacher is a Decepticon," I told him.

"A what?"

"A bad alien robot from the planet Cybertron. They can transform into Earth vehicles. The bad ones are Decepticons and the good ones are Autobots," I explained to him. I didn't know if I broke a federal law by telling him that, but we were currently trapped INSIDE a Decepticon, so I didn't see the harm.

"Alien robots? Oh my god, this has to be a dream. Wake up Declan, wake up!" he screamed.

"It's not a dream. The Decepticons stole my mother and want me for something, which I guess we're about to find out," I told him.

While Declan was trying to process the information, I was struggling to reach my cell phone in my back pocket. If I could just get to it, I could send an SOS to Bee. But every time I tried to move, the seat belts grew tighter around me.

"Scap, I can't get to my phone," I growled. Funny, it seems as if I had adjusted to the Cybertronian language.

"So, we're screwed?" Declan asked.

I sighed. "Probably worse," I muttered.

* * *

Bee paced the floor in his quarters. He had hidden behind the bushes at the nearest library and Declan's car had never arrived. So where was Brooke? Bee had texted her numerous times but she hadn't replied.

"Bumblebee? You haven't come out of your quarters since this afternoon; is something the matter?" Optimus asked, walking into the scout's quarters.

"I didn't see Brooke at the library; I'm worried that she's in trouble," Bumblebee explained.

"So do you feel that we should go after her?" Optimus asked.

"She's my charge, I should find her. But I just don't know where to start...," Bumblebee muttered.

Optimus put a hand on the young mech's shoulder. "Brooke is not just your responsibility; neither myself or anyone else on the base will allow Brooke to be harmed by a Decepticon. I believe that we should give her the night before we try to search for her. If she does not return to the base by the morning, we will search for her," Optimus said.

Bee nodded, not wanting to wait but having to listen to his leader because it was a good idea. Optimus nodded and walked out of the quarters.

_'Come on Brooke_,' Bee thought, _'Come back_.'

* * *

_Well, what'd ya think? Do you see some pairings? I'll tell you one thing: One is really obvious and will be developed in this story while the other is going to be a suprise and develped in my planned sequel. So Review and if you guess one or more of the pairings right, I'll tell you if you're right!_


	8. Inside Enemy Lines

_Okay guys, I know this is short, but trust me, the next one will be a whole lot better. There will be character development, plenty of action, and romance. So expect it up here in a day or two depending on how fast I write. Also, guys, one Q: how many chapters do you guys think this story should be at _least_? I was thinking the least about would be 14, 15, something like that. _

* * *

I guess I was knocked out in Barricade, because, when I came to, I was in a dark room, tied up to a large metal bed like the one that the Frankenstein monster was built on. Only the one I was on was huge, like an Autobot-sized Frankenstein monster. My wrists were bound together above my head and my legs the same below me. I looked next to me to see Declan tied up like I was, but he was unconscious.

"Declan, Declan wake up!" I yelled silently. Declan just moaned and turned around. "Declan!"

"I wouldn't try," a sinister voice said. I turned to see a skinny looking silver robot who had pointed armor and burning red eyes step out of the shadows. I remember him from my dream… Starscream! "That sleeping gas can put a human out for hours. I'm surprised you are awake," he edged closer to me, "But then again, you aren't entirely human, are you?"

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Not human? I think you got the wrong girl; I am 100% human," I said.

The Decepticon chuckled. "Oh, youngling, you obviously don't know that-"

"Starscream, enough!" The loud voice stopped Starscream, from finishing. The voice was so scary that a tingle ran down my spine. Then, the one person I wish I never had the distain to meet came out of the shadows.

Megatron.

"We can't tell her too much," the Decepticon leader said, sizing me up. "Knowledge is a dangerous weapon for her species, especially a femme."

I rolled my eyes. "Sexist," I mumbled. "So, what the hell do you want from me and why do you need Declan for it?"

Megatron looked at the sleeping boy next to me. "Ah, yes, the boy. A useless prisoner of war. The only reason he is here is so the Autobots won't know about your taking," he explained.

"Ok, one question down, now can your old CPU remember my first question, grandpa?" I asked.

Megatron smirked. "For reasons you don't know- and probably never will- you are very powerful. Therefore, to gain your power, I will need to… spark-merge with you," he said, a bit of repugnance in his voice.

"Ew! I don't know exactly what 'spark-merging' is, but I'm SURE I don't wanna do it with you!" I yelled in disgust. The only definition I could think of for spark-merging was something that I was WAY to young to do.

Megatron groaned. "It's not the greatest thing for me either, fleshy, which is why I will wait. Starscream, put her and her pet into the cell with our other prisoner," he ordered.

"I am at your service, my lord," Starscream said, and bowed. Megatron took one last look at me and left. Starscream undid both my own and Declan's binds and picked us up. He then dragged us through multiple dark halls.

"Why do you follow him?" I asked, "He'll probably just betray you in the end; look what he did to Optimus."

Starscream tightened his grip and I had to cover my mouth to stop from screaming. "You know nothing, fleshling. I will be glad when my leader destroys you," he growled. I rolled my eyes and kept quiet so Screamer wouldn't tighten his grip anymore.

The 'bot led us down some stairs to a dimly lit cell. He slid the door open then threw us in. "Have fun, humans," he laughed teasingly and shut the electronic field.

I looked over at Declan, who was laying on his stomach. "Declan!" I ran over to him. "Declan, wake up. Don't die on me," I said. Had his windpipes been blocked off when Starscream tightened his grip?

A red beam suddenly shone over Declan and I then cut off. "You're friend is fine," a voice said, "just in a critical condition. And you're pretty bad yourself."

I looked out to the darkness. "Who are you?" I asked, putting my hands over Declan and protecting his unconscious form.

Then, the robot from my dream stepped out of the shadow. "My name is-"

"Sunstreaker!" I exclaimed.

The Autobot froze. "How do you know who I am?" he asked.

I gave a faint smile. "I'm Bumblebee's charge. I've met your brother, Sideswipe," I explained.

As soon as I mentioned Sides, Sunstreaker's optics widened. "What? You've met my brother? How is he? Is he safe? Has he been injured lately?" he asked.

"Sides has been worried sick about you," I said. "He checks, double checks, and triple checks the maps that the Autobots have explored every day, making sure that they didn't miss a spot. He was so worried Sunsteaker; where were you?"

Sunstreaker emptied his intake vents. "I was on Earth. I crash landed hear a few orns ago, maybe even before Optimus and the others arrived. However, the injuries I sustained were more than I could fix, so I had to go into an emergency recharge. It shut down all my systems except for the ones keeping me alive. I just recently emerged from the recharge and went to search for the Autobots. But Starscream found me and captured me," he explained.

I nodded. "So, my dream was true," I muttered. Sunstreaker's high audio receptors heard me and asked me what dream I was talking about. "I had a dream last night about you outside in some farm place with Starscream. And he scratched your paint," I said.

Sunstreaker's hand went to his chest, where there was a deep gray scratch. "Yeah, stupid slag got me good. And I pride myself in this paint job," he joked.

I smiled at him. "Don't worry, there was a place I passed by on the way to my…old school nearby the base that has an autoshop. I'm sure they can fix you up," I said.

Sunstreaker looked out of the cell. "If we ever get out of here, that is. This is the Decepticon base; it's a prison full of security. Security that could, quite literally, squash you," he said.

My eyes widened. "We're at the Decepticon base? Quick, did you see a woman here? About my height, brown hair?" I asked.

"No, why?" he asked. I explained how my mother was held captive by the Decepticons. "Oh," he said afterwards, "I'm sorry. She's probably here though. We could find her when we break out of here."

I smiled. "That's the spirit, Mr. If-We-Get-Out! Question is, how are we gonna do it?" I asked.

Sunstreaker looked out. "I'm not entirely sure. But I'll think of something. For now, we need to detoxicate your friend from the sleeping gas unless he wants to go into a permanent sleep.," he told me.

I looked at him. "How are we going to do that, Sunstreaker? I'm not a doctor," I said.

Sunstreaker smiled and held up a hand, which turned into a small needle. "I've picked up a few Medic traits while repairing myself on Earth. Oh, and you can call me Sunny," he said, and walked towards Declan. I watched, trying to figure out a plan that didn't involve me being 'spark-merged' with Megatron.

* * *

Bumblebee paced the floor of the base. Where was Brooke? His charge said she was going to be home hours ago and yet she was still gone.

Optimus said to wait till morning, and Bee couldn't argue with his commander. Akila promised Bee that Brooke might have fallen asleep in Declan's car and he took her to his house. Sideswipe tried to comfort Bee, for he knew the pain of having a loved one missing.

But nothing could keep Bee's mind off of his charge. He didn't feel like target practice, or watching human 'movies' with Skids and Mudflap.

It was now about 8 in the morning and Bee had gotten only about four Earth hours of recharge that night.

"Bumblebee, are you still worried about Brooke?" Akila asked as she slid next to Bee's holoform in the cafeteria.

"I must be paranoid. I never thought it would come to this. I'm paranoid," he sang. His holoform didn't move a muscle, but the music still emanated.

"Here, I'll try," she said, and pulled out her phone. The Egyptian girl pressed her speed dial and put the phone to her ear. Bumblebee didn't move, his head resting on his arms.

After a second, Akila's brows furrowed. "Brooke? Slow down, what are you saying?" she asked the phone. Bumblebee perked up and looked eagerly at Akila. "Oh my god, just don't do anything stupid... He wants to WHAT? Brooke? Brooke, can you hear me? BROOKE!" she screamed into the phone. Then she put the phone down grimly.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked, grabbing her arm. Akila froze and looked down. Bee shook her a bit. "Akila, what is wrong with Brooke?" he demanded to know.

Akila stuttered. "B-Brooke was captured by Decepticons, and Megatron wants something to do with her, but I didn't catch what it was. Nevertheless, we need to get Optimus," she told him. Bee's holoform disappeared and his vehicle mode drove to Akila. She jumped into the passenger seat and Bee drove off to find Optimus.

* * *

My hand shook as I hung up my phone. Sunstreaker, who was pulling some blood from Declan, looked at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I closed her eyes. "Good news is that the Autobots know I'm captured by the Decepticons. I didn't tell them that you were here. Bad news is that the phone line was cut off, which means the Decepticons must have noticed my call," I explained.

Sunny stood up and looked at the door. "Which also means they see the threat you pose. I hope you have a plan when they come to get you," he commented.

One corner of my mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "I'm an American, we don't plan!" I declared, trying to lighten the mood.

Sunny put his hand to his head and shook it. "And I thought my brother was reckless." He looked down at his servo and the syringe attached to it. Then his optics widened and looked at me.

I could tell he had an idea. And right about now, I could really use one.

* * *

_Well, now ya'll know what's up. What do you think about Megs and Brooke spark-merging? I'm still debating whether or not it should happen, but stll. If anyone reading this has ever written a spark-merging part, please tell me. If I contact you, that means I'm going through with it. If now...yeah. If no one comments and I do do it, don't expect much, LOL. So,R&R!_


	9. Iridescent

_Well guys, this is so long! 14 pages! Why? Because this was originally suppose to be two or three chapters, but I went to the beach this past Wednesday, so I worked on this a lot more and it ended up being one supah large chapter. And I decided that this story will be one huge one, instead two short sequels. Hope you like the direction I'm going with. I kinda led up to whatever the heck is on the moon in DotM and I guess I'll mention whatever it is once I see the movie.  
In other news, I got a Transformers tee and Jell Bracelet from Hot Topic and it's awesome!  
Oh, and check out the **new poll! **_

* * *

The door swung open to the dark cell that held my friends and I captive. Starscream walked in, fuming. "You DARE call your Autobots for help? What do you not understand? We WILL kill you!" he yelled.

My eyes beamed with anger. "You wouldn't. I'm too precious to your 'master' to be killed. I don't know why, but apparently I hold something that you want, and killing me won't accomplish your goal, now will it?" I asked.

Starscream's air vents puffed out smoke. "As tempting as it would be to slice your throat, Megatron won't allow it. For now, we are transporting you to another location," he declared. I looked back at Sunny, who was watching a waking Declan. Starscream chuckled and looked back at Sunny.

"It seems as if Sunstreaker will be here for a while. A very befitting fate for one not even wanted by the Autobots," he chuckled.

Sunny looked up, a bit of pain in his optics. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Starscream laughed maniacally. "I mean that the Autobots do not care for you. Do you not believe that, I they wanted you, they would search everywhere for you, and still be searching? They are too preoccupied with the fate of an insignificant fleshling than that one of their own kind. Why do you believe that you were rotting in a cell while this girl was running free on human 'dates' as they call them?" he explained, trying to persuade him.

I turned back to Sunny. "No! Don't believe him Sunny! They were still looking for you; they searched everywhere and couldn't find you! Your systems were down so they found no signature for you! They thought the worse; that's why they weren't looking for you as much! Not because they don't care!" I tried to explain. Sunny was frozen, as if considering both sides.

Starscream nodded. "I'll leave you to your sulking then. Say goodbye to the human worm," he said. Starscream deactivated the energy field, grabbed me, and activated it again.

Plan: Activated.

I quickly grabbed the small syringe out of my back pocket and jumped for Starscream's spark chamber. I shoved the syringe as deep as I could get it and let the liquids go. While it was Declan's blood, it also contained a bit of the sleeping stuff the Decepticons put on him. Starscream moaned and fell down with a big thump.

Sunny stood up. "He'll only be out for a minute or so. You need to get out," he said.

I jumped off of Starscream and ran towards the button to deactivate the energy wall. "I'm not leaving without you. Sides would kill me," I said, jumping up to the button. I pressed it and it deactivated with a pop sound. Sunny nudged Declan, who was still a bit sleepy, towards me. I put his arm over my shoulders and looked up at Sunny.

"Well? Come on!" I said. Sunny didn't move.

"What if Starscream is right and the Autobots don't want me?" he wondered.

I gave him a 'WTF' face. "Okay, 'Starscream' and 'right' should never be in the same sentence. And I need you to help me out so we can save the world!" I yelled. Sunny's optics dimmed. I growled. "Fine. Don't come. I'll just get out of here on my own," I declared and looked up at the giant door. How the heck would I get out of here by myself, let alone dragging Declan along?

Starscream's air vents started puffing and I started to run. Declan slowed me down a bit, but his feet moved so I was okay.

I raced through the hallways, Declan following me blindly. I had to sneak past a few Decepticon goons, as I called them. They all looked the same with boring grey faces and red optics. Still, none of them noticed us. I guess they never guessed to look down to see if humans were running around their base.

But then, we got screwed. "All Decepticons alert!" Starscream yelled over the speaker. "Two humans have escaped from their cell. FIND THEM!" I froze as all of the Decepticon goons looked down at their feet and saw Declan and I. I gave a phony smile and waved, laughing apprehensively. That didn't last long. Soon I was off running with the goons shooting and chasing after Declan and I.

Finally coming to, Declan looked back at the goons. "Why are they chasing us?" he asked.

I rolled me eyes, still dragging him. "Because we're humans! Now move!" I screamed. Declan finally realized what was happening and ran ahead of me. He was actually dragging me! How bold!

We reached a tiny vent and slid through. The goons, to big and bulky to go through the vent, stopped chasing us. Declan and I rested against a wall and caught our breath.

"Okay, where the heck are we?" Declan demanded between breaths.

"We're on a Decepticon warship. I'm pretty sure the Autobots are on their way here, but I could be wrong," I explained.

Declan sighed. "So now we're in the vents of this ship. Great. What did I get myself into?" he groaned.

I rolled my eyes. "I told you to stay back, then it'd be just me here and I wouldn't have had to drag you throughout the whole way," I growled. How could he complain about being stuck in this when it was his fault for getting caught up in this?

"Well excuse me for trying to protect you!" Declan lashed out.

"I don't need you to protect me! I don't need anyone!" I retorted.

Declan rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Brooke. Let's just go," he said.

We continued in the dark vents in silence. There was an occasional light vent that we could look out of and see the Decepticon goons searching for us around the ship. Where were the Autobots? How long did it take them to trace the cell phone signal?

After a bit of silently searching, we finally came upon a room that looked important. It was a dark room with a metal Cybertronian-sized desk with a hologram of Cybertron rotating on it. A large silver Decepticon symbol hung on the wall opposite of the desk.

"This must be Megatron's office. Should we go in?" I asked.

Declan snorted. "Phf, I'm not going in there!" he declined.

I was about to keep on going through the vents when I noticed something. It was a faint glow in the corner of the desk. No way. In the corner of the desk was what I noticed as the Matrix. THE Matrix! How could it have survived if it was destroyed in Egypt? And why did it seem so mini? It looked as if it could fit in the palm of my hand!

"I need to get down there," I said, sliding the grate away.

"Are you insane?"

I smiled. "A bit. But something we really need is down there and Megs is probably looking around the ship. This isn't too high off the ground; I could just grab it and run," she planned. Declan was about to protest when I slid out and sneaked across Megatron's quarters. There was no sign of booby traps or cameras, so I climbed up the chair and onto the desk. The Matrix was iridescent with power.

I edged closer and slid the glass off the Matrix. Slowly, I reached out and slowly grabbed it. It began to glow brighter and I felt both my and the Matrix's energy combining. After hearing some footsteps, I got scared and quickly jumped off the desk and ran towards the vent. I started to get in when suddenly a large metal hand grabbed me and pulled me back. Dang it!

I squeaked (one of my many annoying traits) and slid the Matrix in my pocket, hoping he didn't notice. Then I was pulled towards the deep, snarling face of Megatron.

"Hello, little femme," he chuckled.

"Why are you back so soon Megatron? Give up on chasing the human and you got a little tired?" I teased.

Megatron growled and swung me out the door. I faintly heard footsteps running away in the vents. He called off his goons and led me towards the room next door. The room had a single light the lit over a metal berth. In the corner, I could make out a metal cage. Greeeat. My life just had to get better.

**With the Autobots…**

Akila sat nervously in the bulky form of Ironhide. His holoform was driving with his eyes focused on the road.

"What are you thinking?" Ironhide asked, his eyes glancing towards the Egyptian girl.

Akila sighed and rubbed her hands together. "I'm worried. I really am. First my mom, now Brooke. What if we can't save them? What if Megatron had his way with them and they are dead?" she worried. Her eyes began to water up.

Ironhide looked over at her and sighed. He slid his hand over her lap into her hand. Akila looked up at Ironhide with teary eyes. He moved his hand, which was entwined with hers, moved up and wiped a tear off her cheek.

"We'll find them Akila," he said. "I promise."

Akila smiled and looked out to the road, her hand still entwined with Ironhide's.

**Back at the Decepticon air base….**

Megatron set me on top of the cage and used an intercom to tell Starscream that he had 'possession' of me. Possession? Yeah, right. I'd jump down and get the heck out of here, but the large cage was about 15 feet off the ground, and I didn't feel like breaking my ankles.

As Megs was talking to Screamer, I was scanning the room for escape routes. A little crack under the door I could probably slide through, a vent I could reach if I climbed on top of Megatron's head, and…and…nothing. Only 2 ways to get out of here.

After Megatron stopped communicating with Starscream, he turned back to me.

"I heard you were looking for your femme creator," he said.

I shrugged. "Well, it'd be nice to find her," I said. I really wanted to find her, but I didn't want to show Megatron my great interest for her.

Megatron leaned forward to whisper in my ear. I could feel his intakes on my neck. "I'm glad because you don't care, because you'll neverfind her. She's in a super-secure area," he whispered, trying to be seductive.

I lost it. He still had my mother, and he had her on lock-down. "What the hell do you want with her? You have me, let her go! God dang it, what is your problem? What corrupted your CPU?" I screamed. He needs some AVG Anti-Virus or something.

"That's it!" Megatron yelled. His hot metal fingers wrapped around me and picked me up off the cage. I heard a metal clanging and looked over at Megatron. His chest plates had slid apart to reveal a giant glowing ball of energy: his spark. I had read about how they were like the soul of Cybertronians.

"I don't know how long we'll have," Megatron said, "but let's just get this over with."

Megatron brought me closer to his spark and it seemed to lean towards me. "What are you doing?" I yelled, struggling in his grip.

Megatron's optics had shut off and he was looking at the ceiling. "This is spark-merging. The closer you get to my spark, the more bonded we get. And the more powerful I get," he explained.

He seemed a little hesitant about it, but brought me closer. I still resisted but it did no good. I was brought closer and closer, the heat of his spark intensifying. Megatron's intake vents released more and more air as he grunted. The spark was about to fly out of its holder towards me.

Finally I got to the edge of Megatron's armor. Just a short trip to his center until I reached his spark and we were fully bonded. I did not want this! I stretched my arms and legs to I wouldn't fit in his armor. Megatron tried to push me in, my I stopped it.

But, the weird thing was, half of me actually wanted to get closer to his spark. I felt like the world was gone. No Autobots or Decepticons, no war, no government. Just me and him.

_No, NO Brooke! Don't fall for it! Megatron killed thousands and has mom held captive. Stay strong, don't get close to his spark!__  
_  
"Lord Megatron! Autobots have been spotted and are coming towards the ship!" Starscream's voice pierced through the intercom. Megatron growled and put me down.

"I am coming, Starscream," Megatron growled into the intercom. After turning the intercom off, he knelt down and opened the cage. Then he threw me in it and I hit the metal floor roughly.

"Don't go anywhere," he said as he locked the cage. Good, the Autobots were here. I would be saved soon.

Megatron left the room. But part of me wanted him to stay.

**With the Autobots….**

Akila and the Autobots ran through the halls of the Decepticon air ship. Each one fought off goons on their way. Akila stayed near the middle of the group, shooting goons with her hand gun. They did little to actually hurt the goons, but it did distract them long enough for the Autobots to take care of them.

Finally, the last large wave of goons entered the hall, each one taking an Autobot. Arcee used her speed to slip around and under the goons and used her guns to take them out. Prowl slid around on his wheel-feet to skate down the hall near the entrance to shoot the goons off guard when they entered the hall. Bumblebee grabbed one goon and spun it around to take out others. Ironhide was using both of his blasters, blowing the goons to pieces. Optimus was slicing the goons in half using his energon swords. Ratchet stayed at the base, readying all of the medical equipment for the rest of his team's return.

Akila was shooting a goon behind Arcee when she heard a gun charging behind her. She turned around to see one goon that didn't go for an Autobot, but for her. She slowly lifted her hands up then a gun shot the goon's head off. Akila turned back towards the Autobots to see Ironhide blowing smoke out of his gun.

"Thanks," she said.

Ironhide winked at her. "I'm your guardian, am I not?"

After a few seconds of defeating the goons easily, the Autobots were a bit tired. "The Decepticons didn't train these goons too great," Sideswipe commented.

"Thank Primus," Arcee replied.

Then, the vent nearby started shaking. Everyone aimed their guns at it and Akila edged towards it to open it. Then out came the shaggy blond head of Declan.

"Declan? What are you doing here?" Akila asked, lowering her gun.

Declan looked up at the Egyptian. "Who are you and," he looked at the Autobots, "who are they?"

Akila shook her head. "I'm Akila, Brooke's sister, and these are the Autobots. Now where is Brooke?" she demanded.

"Megatron has her! We were trying to get out of here with that other Autobot, but he wouldn't come, so Brooke and I left, and she got caught up in something called the Ma.. Mayberry… Matter…I don't know, but she got taken by Megatron into his room," Declan explained very fast.

One of Akila's brows raised and she cocked her head. "Huh?" she asked.

Optimus, his battle mask covering his face, nodded. He seemed to understand. "We have to split up. You all have to go save this Autobot who refuses to join us. I will go to Megatron's quarters and save Brooke," he ordered.

Bumblebee stepped forward. "Please don't gooooo," he said in a high voice.

Optimus shook his head. "I need to do this, Bumblebee. I cannot risk any of you againt Megatron. I am the only one who stands a chance.

"I will follow," a famous voice sang. Optimus sighed.

"If I may," Arcee interrupted, "Bumblebee is Brooke's guardian, so he has the right to go help you."

Bee smiled up at Optimus. Optimus chuckled and nodded. "Let's go. The rest, follow Declan to the lower cells and find this Autobot," he ordered, and began to walk to Megatron's quarters.

Bee brought his fist up. "Get ready for feel the thunder!" Jack Black's voice rang over his audio, and then Bumblebee ran to catch up to Optimus.

"Alright, well, cells! Move it!" Ironhide yelled, grabbing Akila in his hand. Sideswipe grabbed Declan and the Autobots ran to the cell.

Optimus led the way across the halls. The goons seemed to disappear, which meant that the Decepticons hadn't produced a lot yet. Optimus's optics were scanning every room but most were empty.

"Where could she be?" Optimus growled in frustration.

Bumblebee offlined his optics and listened to his spark. He tried to feel the protector bond with Brooke give away her location.

He could feel it. He could sense her heartbeat.

_Down the hall, take a left…no, a right…. go left, keep walking… no, go back. Take a right and go to the… third? Fourth. Forth door on the right._

"Bumblebee?" Optimus called out. Bumblebee onlined his optics and nodded.

"Follow me now," a chipmunk voice sang. Bumblebee ran off in the direction he felt in his mind and Optimus followed the scout, somewhat skeptical about his sense of direction.

I sat in my cell, waiting and watching. I could see Megatron's dim figure hidden in the shadows of his room.

Footsteps. Outside the door. Another bond was tugging my outside, one much stronger than the one Megatron and I now had.

"Brooke, are you in there?" a familiar voice asked. I looked to see the door open and Optimus's figure in the doorway, Bumblebee behind him.

Bumblebee clicked and started to walk towards me. I saw Megatron's optics onlined, but Bee didn't see it. "Bee, stop! It's a trap!" I yelled. Bee didn't listen and kept running. Before Optimus could order him to stop, Bumblebee was shot in the arm. A piece of metal clanked against my cage as Bee stumbled back.

"Prime, how nice of you to come save your pet," Megatron said, coming out of the shadows. He looked over at Bumblebee, who's optics were hardened. "And you brought a lackey with you. How sweet."

Prime's energon swords swung out. "Release her, Megatron," he demanded.

Megatron laughed. "Fight me for her, Prime," he said, whirling his cannons. Bumblebee aimed his cannons but Optimus waved for him to stop.

"This is between Megatron and I, Bumblebee," Optimus said. "Make sure Brooke is alright." Then, the two charged at each other. Megatron shot off a few pieces of Optimus's chest plating and Optimus chipped off a clip of Megatron's wings.

Once they reached each other and long-range attacks were unnecessary, the real fighting began. Optimus swung a punch and hit Megatron in the gut. Megatron flipped over Optimus and hit him in the back.

I watched the battle intensely. Bumblebee was trying to use various songs to ask if I was ok, but I was too focused on the battle.

Good news: Optimus looked like he was winning.

Bad news: Part of me wanted Megatron to win this.

Akila followed Declan in the front of the line of Autobots. The blond boy was showing the robots and Egyptian girl the path to the cells, where the missing Autobot was.

Finally, the group got there. Akila shot the door control panel, which made the door open. The Autobots filed in and Declan looked at Akila.

"Nice shot," he said. "There's more to you than meets the eye!"

Akila was gonna reply when Ironhide clanked behind them. "How cheesy," he commented on Declan's statement. Declan rolled his eyes and went into the room with Akila.

The room was dim and it took a moment for Akila's and Declan's eyes to adjust. When they did, they saw Sideswipe giving his brother a big bear hug. Sunstreaker looked a little depressed bit slightly hugged him back.

"I'm so happy you're alive, brother!" Sides yelled.

Sunny smiled a bit and tightened his hug. "Me too, Sideswipe, me too," he agreed.

Akila was looking around the cell, looking for her mother. She was no where to be found. Akila sighed and closed her eyes. Then she felt a metal hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ironhide looking down at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry your mother isn't here. We *will* find her," he said sympathetically.

Sunstreaker looked over at Akila and Ironhide. Both of them paid little attention to the new Autobot and only upset that Akila's mother wasn't there. 'Maybe Starscream was right...,'  
Sunny thought.

Sideswipe pulled away from the hug. "Welcome to Team-" He stopped when he door to the cell slid open and a group of goons ran in, guns ready. The Autobots drew their guns and readied for battle.

Arcee, surrounded in a tight circle, jumped up. Utilizing her wheel for a foot, she drove in a circle on the goon's flat chests. They were stunned at her move and she shot their faces before they could react. When she made a full circle, she jumped up in the air, did a flip, and landed back in the middle of it. When she stood up, all of the goons fell on their back.

Sides went away from his brother. He did a flip over one goon and shot it when he was in the air. When he landed, he shot a second goon behind him. He started to walk away when the second goon he shot stood up and shot Sides in the back. Sideswipe was hit near the spark chamber, but it wasn't enough to go through. But he still fell on his face and couldn't get up. Arcee, seeing this, sped up and used the goon as a ramp like she did before. After gaining air from it, she shot him in the spark chamber and he fell. When she landed, she went straight to where Sideswipe was being nursed by Sunstreaker.

Ironhide was blasting goons left and right. Akila was once again stunning them so Ironhide could get more goons. But she missed one goon and the shot hit her in the arm where she held the gun. Akila fell back and gripped her arm.

"Ironhide! Akila's hurt!" Declan yelled, running to Akila. Ironhide looked at the goon that shot Akila and sent multiple blasts to him, turning him into nothing but scrap metal. Ironhide blasted away the last couple of goons then ran to Akila.

"My arm...," she muttered, removing her hand that was covered in blood. Ironhide looked over at Sideswipe, who was leaking energon.

He opened a comm. link to Optimus. "Ironhide to Prime," he said.

"Prime here," Optimus responded, sounding a bit preoccupied.

"We found Sunstreaker, but Sideswipe and Akila and greatly injured," Ironhide reported.

There was a pause on Prime's side. "Retreat back to base, with or without Sunstreaker. Declan said he refused to come with Brooke when she discovered him. I am currently engaging Megatron. Bumblebee is trying to free Brooke," he ordered.

Ironhide nodded. "Agreed. Ironhide out," he said and closed the link. He then turned back to the Autobots. "Alright, we're getting off this ship. Sunny, come or not, we're leaving. Arcee, get Sideswipe. I'll get Akila," he ordered. Arcee grabbed Sides and headed out, Declan following. Ironhide gently picked up Akila and looked at Sunny, who didn't move an inch.

"Sunstreaker, I've fought along side you for a while. And you staying in a cell while your brother is harmed is not like you at all. We'll welcome you to the base if you do choose to come," Ironhide said and left the room.

Sunstreaker offlined his optics then took a hesitant step out of the cell.

I watched as both Megatron and Optimus were getting a bit tired. Their moves got lazier in the tiny space. Megatron sent a shot to Optimus, but he dodged it, only to have it hit Bumblebee in the neck. Great, there went his vocalizers.

Optimus sliced a scratch on Megatron's armor. Megatron shot Optimus's leg and Optimus stumbled back. Megatron breathed heavily and turned to me. He didn't take one step toward me until Optimus got up and shoved him against the wall near my cage. Optimus edged forward, ready to destroy the Decepticon leader, when Megatron readied his gun behind his back. Optimus didn't notice!

I had to stop Megatron. But how could I?

I knew Optimus just couldn't kill him like that. When I partially spark-merged with him, I felt as if I could see a little bit of good in him. But if I stopped Optimus, Megatron would kill him.

Optimus edged closer. Megatron was about to shoot him. "NOOO!" I yelled, knowing that it would solve nothing. But then, Megatron's gun automatically deactivated. Megatron snarled and jumped up, twisting under his sword and going behind him. Optimus turned around and hit a right hook in Megatron's face. Megatron stumbled back and, before he could go back and hit Optimus, the whole ship started shake.

"Alert!" Starscream's voice rang through the ship. "The frontal steering has been fatally damaged; prepare for a crash landing."

Megatron locked eyes with Optimus then at me. "I will take my leave now. I have all the power I need from you. I will see you again, young Brooke," he said, and ran out the door. Optimus stared at the door then looked at my cage.

"Stand back," he ordered. I listened and went to the farthest corner of the cage. Optimus used his energon swords to cut a hole in the cage and retracted the swords. He set his hand down and I climbed on it. Bee staggered to stand up.

"We need to get off of this ship," Optimus told us. Bumblebee put his arm out for me, but Optimus shook his head. "You are too injured, Bumblebee. It will be hard for you to land from the ship, let alone with Brooke inside. I'll take her," he said.

Bee nodded and transformed into his Camaro self. Optimus set me down, transformed, and I climbed inside him. He pulled out of the quarters with Bee following him. Then we raced down the hallway and we approached the end, Optimus showed no sign of turning.

"Um... Optimus, what are you doing?" I yelled.

"Leaving," he answered. A seatbelt snaked around my frame and held me tight.

We hit the wall head-on and fell straight down. I felt weightless as the sky and clouds raced past us. My hands slammed to the side of the chair and gripped on tight.

The seatbelt started to loosen, no matter how close Optimus tried to keep it to me. It loosened enough to where I fell out and slid to the back, screaming. I hit my head on the wall and my feet slid down. Optimus's holoform formed and he grabbed me to keep me from sliding. He grabbed my waist and pulled me near him as the ground raced closer. When we were about a mile away from the hard ground, I shut my eyes.

The large Peterbilt hit the ground with a loud THUD! I opened my eyes to see that Optimus was safely parked on the side of the dirt road. "Are you alright?" Optimus asked, his hands still on my waist.

"Yeah, I'm alright. That was really scary," I commented. I heard Optimus's door open and Bee's holoform poked his head in. When he saw us, he wiggled his eyebrows.

"All I wanna do it get-ta holdin' you and get-ta knowin' you and get-ta showin' you," Bee sang in a deep country voice. It was then that I noticed how close Optimus and I were; so close I could feel his artificial but warm breath on my neck. I jumped back and a blush crept on my cheeks, along with Optimus's.

"Let's just go back to the base," Optimus suggested and stood up. He walked to the driver's seat as Bee nodded and disappeared. The semi-truck was on its way again, with me resting in the back.

The ride went on for a while, it seemed, until we reached the base. I slid out of Optimus and he and my guardian transformed. We headed over to the med bay where Ratchet was rushing trying to fix his patients. A human doctor was wrapping Akila's arm. Arcee and Declan were gone, which probably meant that she took him home. Greeeat. That means I'm gonna have to go seek him out later on.

"Ratchet, Bee's vocalizers got shot," I told him. Ratchet looked at Bumblebee and put his thumb and forefinger on his temples.

"I wish Red Alert would hurry up and get here," Ratchet muttered, getting tools to fix Sideswipe's leaking chassis. Bee went and sat down on a metal cot.

An idea hit me. "Optimus," I called. Optimus heard me and knelt down. "How did the steering on the Decepticon air ship get harmed? The rest of the Autobots were gone," I asked.

Optimus shook his head. "Perhaps it was, what you call, 'a miracle'," he supposed.

"Or it was my handiwork," I heard behind us. Optimus and I looked to see Sunstreaker standing there with a grin on his face.

"You came!" I said.

Sunny shrugged. "I couldn't leave my brother; he's the only one I got. Plus you're pretty convincing, little girl," he said. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

Prime straightened up. Sunny looked him in the optics. "I lost my way back on that dreadful ship, but now I see that there is hope. I would be honored to join your group, Optimus Prime," he said, kneeling. Optimus tilted his head and I looked up at Optimus.

"You are more than welcome to join us, Sunstreaker," Optimus said.

I smiled at Sunny, who smiled at me. I knew this was the beginning of a cool friendship.

Suddenly, these images appeared in my head. Images of little pieces flashed through my mind.

_I was giant. I was... on a building, with statues surrounding it. On the side of one is a younger Sam, a cube in his arm, staring up at me in fear. "You are NEVER getting this AllSpark!" he screamed._

The image changed.

_I was flying to rooftop of another building in the city. The place wasn't wreaked and destroyed like in the first image, but the city was hustling and bustling. A jet flew over and transformed into the familiar bring of Starscream, who landed the same time I did._

"We lost the boy, master," he said as he kneeled. "The Autobots must be shielding their signals."

_I edged closer to him and a large metal arm swiped at him. "I can't even rely on you to swat a simple insect?" Megatron's voice yelled. But it was closer that near me, it was as if I said it. It was if I was experiencing Megatron's memories._

_I pushed Starscream down and he struggled not to fall off the building. _

"_One insect among seven billion!" he begged._

"_SHUT UP!" Megatron yelled. A metal foot went into Starscream's chassis and the wheel spun, causing a lot of damage._

The vision changed.

_Megatron's arm was in a fist and he was in a brightly lit place. He opened his fist and I saw my mom, in a tattered red tank top and red pajama pants (a present I got for her last Christmas), her black hair frizzy and poofy. Her face was wrinkled and had a couple scratches on her face covered in dry blood._

_"Where are we Megatron?" she demanded._

_"Your cell," Megatron growled back. He stopped and looked out a window. What I saw were only things I saw in pictures and paintings._

_"This is nearby to another lair I had. You will stay deep hidden here," he said. He walked into an elevator and hit a button with the symbols from my dreams written on it. 'Floor Five' screamed out in my head. The elevator moved then opened. Megatron stepped out and walked down a long hall. My mother was exhausted and didn't resist his movement._

_Megatron walked down the hall then into a large room. A Decepticon with no face, who I recognized as Soundwave, was pressing a few buttons on a board. Megatron walked up to a big circular thing in the middle of the room. He held out my mother and electrical bonds latched onto her wrists and her ankles._

_"Watch her," Megs ordered Soundwave, "and make sure she doesn't escape."_

The vision turned back as Megs left the room.

When I opened my eyes, I realized I fell to the floor and my hands were on my temples.

"Brooke, what happened?" Optimus asked.

I felt the headache start to go away and I looked at Optimus, who had concern all in his optics. I felt the Matrix in my back pocket vibrated a bit.

"I know where my mom is," I said. "The Decepticons took her to the moon."

* * *

Songs:  
I Will Follow- U2  
Follow Me Now- Alvin and the Chipmunks  
Country Girl (Shake It For Me)- Luke Bryan

Lines from:  
Kung Fu Panda

So R&R! This is long, so I deserve some reviews!


	10. Connection

_Hey guys! So, who's excited for Dark of the Moon? I AM! So I decided to write a little filler chapter because I wanted to update before Dark of the Moon. I'm gonna wait till I see the movie on Thursday to update it again (sadly) but I will be adding new Autobots, new Decepticons, and new eviil plans! So here we go:_

* * *

I sat on the desk of Ratchet's office as the medical officer used a welding tool to close Sideswipe's wound. It reminded me of the way stitches closed human wounds.

I _really_ didn't want to be here. The stench of disinfectants and rubber filled the air. The only reason I came in was that Optimus insisted I did after my little episode back in the hangar. His big bulky form was leaned against the wall next to me.

After the welding was done, Sideswipe stood up and moved his arm in a circle. "Thanks, doc bot," he said. Then he gave a grin to me. "Thanks for convincing my brother to come back," he thanked.

I smiled back. "It was you who did most of it," I said.

Sides was about to say something when Ratchet ushered him out. "Yes, yes, it's so touching. Now get out," he ordered. Sides rolled his optics and left the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Now the only people in the room were Ratchet, Optimus, and I.

"So what exactly happened?" Ratchet asked, moving me from the counter to a human sized medical table. Ratchet transformed into his vehicle mode and his holoform stepped out.

"I…started seeing visions in the hangar," I said. I began to explain the visions, with neither Ratchet nor Optimus blinking an eye. Both looked relatively worried, which made me scared. Afterwards, Ratchet ran an invisible scan on me.

"Her vitals seem fine," Ratchet told Optimus. Then he turned to me. "What happened on the air base?"

Flashbacks of Megatron's hard claws wrapping around me and forcing me to spark-merge with him came back to my mind. I rubbed my back, feeling the hidden bruises shoot pain up my back.

"Brooke?" Optimus asked. I was silent, not wanting to relive the memory.

Optimus looked at Ratchet and the CMO looked back. I could tell they were having a private comm. link discussion. The door to the medical office opened and a yellow Camaro drove in.

"Ah, Bumblebee, that was fast," Optimus commented. Bee's holoform stepped out of his vehicle mode, nodded at Optimus, and ran over to me.

"What happened to you, Gibbs?" Jack Sparrow's voice rang out.

"His vocal processers still aren't quite working. They should be worked properly in 4 joors," Ratchet told me. (A/N: A joor is equivalent to 6.5. Earth hours)

"What happened?" a quiet voice sang with no music in the background. Great, so they send Bee to get the truth out of me.

I sighed. No way the 'Bots would let me leave without explaining. "When I was on the ship," I muttered. "Declan and I were going through the vents and I noticed something glowing when I got to Megatron's office. I went down to retrieve it and, right when I did, Megatron grabbed me and carried me to his quarters. Then he…" I couldn't go on. It was too painful.

"What did he do, Brooke?" Ratchet urged.

Tears began to build up.

"Please tell us," Optimus almost begged.

The tears fell. Lines of clean went downward from my eyes on my dirty face. "He freaking spark-merged with me, okay?" I yelled in anger. I wiped my eyes of the tears and looked at the Autobots, who all stared at me with wide optics.

I couldn't figure out what the Autobots felt. They usually felt an array of emotions and I could read each one, but now I can't see anything.

"D-Did he state why he wanted to spark-merge with you?" Optimus finally asked after a moment of silence. "I doubt Megatron would, what is the word? Rape a human out of pleasure."

I used my arm to wipe some of the tears away. "He said that if we bonded, he would get more power," I said.

Ratchet's optics went straight to my face. "Brooke, what was the glowing thing you got from Megatron's office?" he demanded to know. I could tell he was also trying to change the topic. Good.

I reached back in my pocket and pulled the Matrix out. The second it was halfway pulled out, the Autobots went silent. Ratchet reached out for it. The second I put it in the holoform's hands, it crumbled into dust. Ratchet jumped back.

"Put it in my hands," I told him. Ratchet slid the dust into my hands and it formed back into the Matrix.

"Bumblebee, go get Samuel," Optimus ordered without blinking an optic. Bumblebee nodded absentmindedly and zipped off.

"Perhaps Brooke should go eat something," Ratchet suggested. Optimus nodded and I got off the bed. After setting the Matrix down on the counter, I quickly scurried out of the office, feeling the gaze of Optimus and Ratchet on my back.

**Mess Hall**

I sat down at a table by myself, using my plastic fork to play with the food I supposed was potatoes. I hadn't eaten in about two days, so I thought I would have an appetite. Sadly, I did not. Finally I began to eat small bites of the food.

Finally, I got to the last bite. One more bite, and I would have done what I thought I couldn't. I slowly brought the food up to my mouth.

Then, Akila slid next to me, making my hand jump and the food land on the floor. Dang. My sister's arm was bandaged where she got shot. Nevertheless, Akila wrapped her arm around my back. A sharp pain was sent up my spine and I grimaced.

"Are you ok?" Akila asked.

"Yeah, just sore," I said through gritted teeth.

Akila cocked her head and lifted the back of my shirt a little. Good thing a lot of the soldiers were doing duties, so there weren't a lot in the mess hall. Akila gasped. "Brooke…You have giant bruises on your back!" she yelled in horror. Great, Megatron probably gave me those. "Where did you get these?" Akila demanded to know.

"Megatron probably gave it to me back on the air base," I told her, deciding she didn't need to freak out about the whole 'spark-merging' part of my stories. And not thinking about it was partially for my health also. I changed the subject. "So what'd you come to tell me?"

Akila glanced at my back again then looked at me in the eyes. "Is it weird for friends to hold your hand?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Who was holding your hand?" I asked.

"Ironhide."

Hm. He was acting a little weird around Akila. He seemed to be hanging out with her a bit more. "Maybe he was just being nice," I suggested.

_Yeah right, he _so_ loves her_, another part of me said.

Akila's smile dropped. "Yeah, probably it. Well, I gotta go do this research paper for the online class," she said, then got up to leave. I finished eating my food then went off to go find something to do.

**Recreation Room**

You know, I really did _not_ imagine a giant military hangar having a rec. room. But when I walked in on Sides and Sunny playing Call of Duty on a Cybertronian-sized TV, while sitting on a Cybertronian-sized couch, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I used to have a flat screen in my house, but this was HUGE. It was seriously the size of a whole entire wall.

"This place is amazing!" I exclaimed, standing next to the sofa. Sides paused the game and brought me up to the sofa with them.

"Optimus had to put it in after Skids, Mudflap, and I kept bothering him about it," he told me. Then they went back to playing the giant game and I watched, having never been good at war games. I know, ironic, right?

After a few minutes of watching the game go on - not really knowing who was winning, if you're wondering - I heard heavy footsteps outside. "Guys, hide me!" I said, thinking it was Optimus. I really wasn't in the mood to talk more about the spark-merging or the Matrix.

Sides quickly covered me up with a small pillow (small for Cybertronians that is) and continued playing. I heard the door open and the footsteps came in.

"What are you two doing?" an annoyed voice asked. It wasn't Optimus, but it was Ironhide.

"Playin' video games," Sides said.

"What you up to?" Sunny finished.

Ironhide sighed. "Nothing. I came in here to relax and get away from those humans. A sparkling has better aim!" he ranted.

Sunny paused the game. "Well, my dear senior officer, what else is on your mind?" he asked in a teasing voice.

I saw Ironhide sit down on a loveseat. "Firstly, don't call me 'senior officer'," he began. "And it's nothing for you to worry about."

"Get shot in the aft?" Sides suggested. Ironhide rolled is optics.

"Found out about what Skids and Mudflap are doing with their holoforms in Cuba?" Sunny asked. I heard Skids and Mudflap were send to Cuba to trace an energon source about two days ago (mostly to get them out of the Autobot's hair) but I could only imagine what they were doing in the place that was once the party place for rich Americans.

Ironhide's face curled up. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

Sides wasn't about to let Ironhide's problem go unnoticed, which I wish he would. I couldn't go out of hiding because then if Optimus was looking for me, Ironhide would tell him without a second thought.

"Is it a girl?" Sides asked. _Of course!_ my other side screamed. _He's thinking about Akila!_

Ironhide grunted but didn't say anything. Sides jumped up (almost knocking me out of my hiding spot) and slid next to Ironhide. He placed an arm around the mech. "I don't know if you heard Ironhide, but I was quite the lady-killer back on Cybertron," he said. "I could help you." _Sideswipe_ a lady-killer? Yeah right. "Why do ya like?"

Ironhide grumbled something and I couldn't hear it. But apparently Sides could because his optics widened. "_You_ like _Akila_?" he screamed out.

Ironhide punched the 'Bot in the face. "Well don't let the whole base know!" he yelled.

"I knew it," I whispered quietly, thinking he wouldn't hear it. But, oh, just my luck, the Autobots hade _highly_ sensitive audio receptors. Ironhide's deep eyes looked straight towards me, probably not seeing me. Sunny quickly jumped in front of the pillow, being sure not to crush me.

Ironhide didn't buy it. The weapon's specialist got up and removed the pillow. "Heey, Ironhide," I said very casually. Ironhide looked at me deeply. "Um, ok, just ask her out and don't be a jerk. Akila's had a couple of boyfriends but never really took them seriously because we moved so much. But I guess now that she's older and we're gonna be here for a while, she'll probably say yes," I told him. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's mouths were wide open in the background.

"Thanks…," Ironhide muttered and walked away. Sunny smiled and gave me a thumbs-up for avoiding the wrath of Ironhide.

**Meeting Room**

I chilled in my room until seven p.m., when Bee message Optimus that he was heading to the base with Sam. I had to move the Matrix into the room and I was placed on top of the huge table. Where the government found the material to make these Cybertronian-sized objects was incredible to me.

After about five minutes of awkward waiting with Optimus and Ratchet, Bee finally drove in and Sam stepped out, a large smile etched out on his face. Bumblebee transformed and placed the blond on the table with me.

"Sorry I was late. I was at the hospital," he explained. I shot him a look like _Who was in the hospital?_ and Sam put his hands up. "Relax, no one is ill. Mikaela was feeling really sick so I took her and it turns out that she's pregnant. Can you believe it? I'm gonna be a dad!" No way. Sam, a father? Wow, that's awesome!

After various congratulations and questions of names (the latter was really from me) it was time to get to business. "So what's wrong? 'Con attacks?" Sam asked.

Ratchet stood up. "Brooke found the Matrix of Leadership in Decepticon possession. She did retrieve it, thankfully, but there is something perplexing about it. When I held the Matrix, it crumbled into dust. When I put the dust into Brooke's hand, it turned back into its solid form," he told Sam.

"We were hoping, with the knowledge of the Prime, you could help us figure out this mystery," Optimus told him.

"We believe that either she earned it or she has some connection to it," Ratchet added.

Sam grabbed his chin. "She couldn't have earned it, she's only fifteen! I don't think she did anything like bringing a Prime back to life," he said. I don't know if I should feel insulted or not, so I'll just keep quiet.

Optimus nodded. "So our only option is that she is somehow connected to it, which means that Megatron is connected with it also. If he gains access to it, or Brooke, who knows what would happen. Until we find this connection and sever it, Brooke needs to be guarded at all times," he said. "Sam, we will assign Arcee as your protector until such time comes that Megatron doesn't need _anyone_ who is connected to the Matrix."

Sam nodded, seeming okay with it. "Megatron could use the power he got for bonding with me for whatever he's planning on the moon," I suggested, crossing my arms.

Optimus was about to reply but Ironhide burst in the room. "Optimus, Arcee has intercepted a message. New Autobots are on their way to Earth," he said. _New Autobots?_

Optimus looked at his weapons specialist. "Wonderful news. Tell Arcee I will be right there," he said. Ironhide nodded and left the room. Optimus then turned back to us. "I am sorry to cut this short, but we need more numbers. Sam, I will send Arcee to drive you home." With that, Optimus went to the control room.

Arcee came and picked up Sam and Ratchet left for the med bay, leaving me and Bumblebee alone.

"Well, looks like I won't be leaving the base in a while…," I muttered to him.

Bee did a little dance. "Party all night, and sleep all day, and throw all of our troubles away!" he sang with dance music in the background.

I chuckled. "We will, Bee, we will, but not tonight. Too much has gone on and I think I'm gonna turn in early," I told him. Bee's optics dimmed.

"Aw, come on! We'll have an awesome party tomorrow night, 'kay? You get the soda and ice cream, I'll get the movies," I explained.

"You got to feel it within your body and your spirit when you listen to the rhythm, come on," Bee sang. I laughed at seeing Bumblebee's young, pale, blond holoform sing in Will.'s deep voice.

"I do, I feel it. And right now, I feel tired. So night," I said, then left the room.

**Akila & Brooke's Quarters**

I walked inside my quarters and Akila was typing up her report. I went and laid on my bed and check my phone. No messages.

I decided to call Declan and see how he was doing. After one ring, I heard "Hey, this is Declan! Leave a message," which means he ignored my call.

"Declan? It's Brooke. Please call me. I know yesterday was a lot to take in, but we need to talk. They won't hurt us, Declan. Alright, later," I finished. After I hung up, I sent him a text.

"Listen to my MSG and txt me back" I texted.

After a few minutes, the ringer for a text went off. I quickly looked at it and saw that is was from Declan. Great, at least he wasn't completely ignored me.

The text was a bit weird. It said: "Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?"

I didn't study the Bible much, but I recognize as Proverbs 6:27. I didn't exactly know what he meant by it, but I knew that I wouldn't be hanging out with Declan anytime soon.

So I fell asleep, still pondering the message.

* * *

_So, does anyone know what Declan means by his message? Hmmm? Well, tell me what ya think!  
Also, thanks to everyone who faved and alerted this! **18** favs and **16** alerts! So please tell others about this story and R&R! _

_Songs Bee used:  
__What Happened- Sublime  
__Party All Night- Black Eyed Peas  
__Like That- Black Eyed Peas_

_Movie lines Bee used:  
__Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides_


	11. The New Autobots

_Well guys, I saw Dark of the Moon and all I can say is...ehhh. The Autobots were friggin amazing and the fights were awesome, but the chick who plays Carly cannot act to save her life and Sam was, as usual, whiny and annoying. And one of my favorite Autobots died, so I cried until the movie was over. Anyway, here's the new chapter. _

_Oh, and in the movie, the red Ferrari was originally named Mirage but then it was change to Dino and I think I wanted Mirage in this, so I changed the name. But I left Que as Que and not Wheeljack because I heard Wheeljack was awesome and I don't think this 'Que' did Wheeljack's awesomeness justice. So there's my explaination!_

* * *

When I woke up, the covers of my cot were pooled around my legs. I always had a habit to toss and turn in my sleep, and that usually was intensified with my nightmares/visions. Surprisingly, this was the first night I went without a horrible dream that made me wake up screaming.

When I turned to my side, I saw bright sunlight pouring into my room. The red clock next to my bed read '10:30'. What was up with me and sleeping so late recently?

I slid out of my bed and looked at myself in the mirror. I hadn't worn makeup in days so that was nothing to check. My black hair was crazy wavy but, I had to admit, it looked somewhat good. So I put my contacts in and went to the cafeteria, only clad in my black shorts and purple tee shirt.

When I got to the mess hall, most of the soldiers were gone. While this did mean that I wasn't stuck with all the cold things I called food, it also meant something was up. But I was too tired to care. So I got my hot goop (Which still sucked, but it was better than cold goop) and started to eat when, once again, Bee's holoform slid next to me. I had a feeling he just loved doing that.

"So where is everyone?" I asked Bee.

"They're all preparing for the new Autobots scheduled to arrive," he said.

I raised my eyebrows. "So Ratchet fixed your voice, huh?"

Bee nodded. "It's still glitching, but I can somewhat use it," he explained.

I took another bite of my goop. "So when are they getting here?" I asked.

"Noon."

Bee started to talk about movies and stuff we could get for our little party tonight, but my mind wandered back to the Matrix, which was taken by Optimus after the meeting was over.

"So where's Optimus?" I asked Bee as I threw the Styrofoam tray away.

"Outside," he told me. He transformed and let me jump in and drove me to Optimus, who was staring out at the Arizona desert. I jumped out of Bumblebee and he transformed, which made Optimus look at us both.

"Ah, Brooke, Bumblebee, hello," he greeted.

"Hey Optimus," I said back. "So, um, I was just wondering what happened to the Matrix when you took it?"

"If the Decepticons were to break into the base, they could easily grab the Matrix if I had hidden it within the base. But I have hidden it within my chassis to make sure it is kept safe," he explained.

I first was a little grossed out that the Matrix was actually _inside_ Optimus, but I pushed the thought away. "So who do you think is in the ship?" I said, changing the subject.

Optimus paused. "I do not know. There are many Autobots out there. But there's one person I am looking for specifically…," he went off.

"Who?" I asked.

"His teacher," Bee said, using lines from a movie I didn't know.

I looked back at Optimus who nodded. "He is correct. My teacher, Sentinel Prime, who granted me the rank of Prime. He has been missing for many vorns." (A/N: A vorn is equal to 83 Earth years)

I was going to ask about this 'Sentinel Prime', but my phone went off. I recognized the number as Declan's. Maybe he was calling to explain that proverb from last night! So I quickly answered the phone and greeted him.

"Can you _PLEASE_ explain to me why these Smart Cars are following me around?" Declan screamed angrily into the phone. Well, I guess Skids and Mudflap got back from their mission to Cuba.

"I'll be right there," I groaned, running my hand through my hair and hanging up the phone. Then I turned to my yellow guardian. "Did Skids and Mudflap return from their mission?" I asked. Bee made a chirp that sounded like a yes. "Did you tell them how Declan ran away on the air base?" He nodded his head.

I groaned and face-palmed. "Well, let's go save Declan from the twins," I told him. Bee rolled his optics and transformed into his Camaro form. I jumped in and Bee traced when Declan called me from to a house in a rural area of Arizona. The houses were spread far apart and I didn't think they had houses like that in Arizona.

Sitting outside one large two-story house with horses in the front was Declan, who was arguing with the Twin's holoforms. I jumped out of Bee and he activated his holoform to followed me.

"Well you're just a pussy!" Mudflap yelled at Declan.

Declan crossed his arms and glared at the twins. "Look, I'm not a giant robot. What the hell could I have done with Megatron? Say 'Oh hey, you should let Brooke go!'? Like he would of just handed her to me and let us go on our merry way?" he yelled.

"Well youse coulda done somethin' but you ran like a femme!" Skids argued. I ran and jumped in between the two groups before either could reply.

"Will you both _shut up_?" I yelled at the groups. Bee grabbed the back of the twins' shirts and pulled them away so I could talk to Declan. "Sorry about them," I told him.

Declan uncrossed his arms. "No problem. They kinda opened my eyes. I was an epic fail on the ship. And, I'm guessing, they're not your cousins," he admitted.

I smiled. "No, they're not. And don't worry, you weren't that bad. I mean, I'm still alive," I said, then decided to change the subject. "So what's with the ranch?"

Declan looked back at the house and shrugged. "It's a vacation home. My mom thinks I was in a "vehicle accident" with a big fire truck and am traumatized, so she brought me out here to relax. But with the Terrible Two following me, it hasn't been that relaxing," he explained. I apologized again.

"So, um, I was wondering… What's up with that Proverb yesterday?"

Declan sighed and motioned for me to sit near this bench. "You can't tell me you're not surprised you were captured by Decepticons," he explained. I cocked my head at him. "I mean, how do you expect to hang out with the Autobots and not be targeted by the Decepticons? You are holding the Autobots on a pedestal, Brooke, and think you're invincible!"

I was shocked. "W-What do you mean? I don't hold them on a-" I was cut off when Declan quickly leaned in and smashed his lips against me. I stared wide-eyes for a moment then pushed him off. The feeling of his skin against mine brought back terrible memories and I shuttered.

"Come back to school, Brooke. Don't get caught up in them. I don't want to see you get hurt," he begged. He just _kissed_ me and he's trying to get me to _leave_ my _friends_?

I scooted away from him. "I'm not leaving them, Declan."

Declan stood up. "Then maybe we shouldn't hang out Brooke," he muttered, not looking me in the eyes. I looked up at him with a 'WTF' face. "You're a nice girl, you really are. But I need to protect my soul and out worship these _things_."

I shot up. "_Your_ soul? I was freaking _RAPED_ by a Decepticon while you ran around in the vents and all you care about is _your_ soul? Then you kiss me trying to convert me to your anti-Autobot side? How dare you! And those _things_ are my friends, so don't you dare insult them!" I growled out. Declan's eyes turned to sympathy and he tried to reach out for me. Instead, I reached up and smacked him in the face. Hard. So hard that his cheeks turned red.

"Have fun in your little world," I said violently, walking past him and to the yellow Camaro waiting for me. Skids and Mudflap had left to drive to the base a while ago.

When I got in the passenger seat, I was crying. Bumblebee's holoform glared at Declan then zoomed off, taking a moment to wipe her tears away.

"You'll say anything in your mind. You lust to control me," Bee sang about Declan and I found it to be the perfect song.

I looked out of the window and saw kids playing in the sprinklers and throwing a football. Living a normal life, blissfully unaware of the war going on around them.

And for that moment, that small moment, I envied them.

….

When we arrived back at the base, the soldiers were rushing around outside to get the base ready. A plane was being prepared, in case the new Autobots landed somewhere far away. The clock inside Bee read 11:50.

We raced into the hanger and saw the other Autobots staring at a screen where a large ship was seen zooming through space. I jumped out of Bee and ran up to the others while Bumblebee transformed.

"So is that the ship?" I asked.

Sideswipe nodded and looked at me. "That's the Xantium," he said. He then tilted his head at me.

"Have you been crying?" Sunstreaker asked, already aware of his brother's question.

I shook my head quickly and wiped my face of the tears. By now, most of the Autobots were looking at me and my face turned red. "Um, no, I'm fine," I said. "So is that the ship with Sentinel Prime on it?"

Optimus gave me a concerned glance then shook his head. "Sentinel left Cybertron on the _Ark_, so he is not here," he told me, a bit upset. I was going to assure him that Sentinel would come soon, but Ratchet interrupted me.

"Optimus, the ship is landing!" he yelled out.

"Coordinates?"

"29 degrees North, 81 degrees West," Ratchet told him. He zoomed in on the wreckage to show something that looked very familiar to me.

"Daytona International Speedway?" Akila asked, beating me to identifying it.

Optimus nodded to Major Lennox, whom I did not notice standing behind him. "Tell the soldiers to get the plane ready to travel to Florida," he ordered. Lennox nodded then ran off to tell his men.

"Yeah! We's going to Flor-i-dah!" Skids cried out.

"Cool beaches, hot girls, yeahh boy!" Mudflap added.

Sides crossed his arms. "Since when have you guys had a thing for human femmes?" he asked, partially teasing.

Mudflap placed an arm on Sideswipe's shoulder. "Cuba. It can change a mech, yo," he said. I rolled my eyes at the comment. Boys will be boys, no matter what planet they're from.

The door to the hanger opened and a rider drove in on the back of Arcee's alt form (he looked so manly on the pink bike), a toy truck following them. The rider jumped off and took his helmet off, revealing himself to be Sam. "Hey guys," he greeted.

"Hey Sam," Akila greeted back. Since when did Akila and Sam know each other? I guess he must have come to the base when I went to school and Akila didn't. "So how's Mikaela?"

"She's fine. These pregnancy hormones are messing with her head. I'm glad I can get away from her for a while to come do this," he told us.

Surprisingly, Skids fell back in a fake faint and Mudflap caught him. "You got Mikie preggers?" he yelled in astonishment. Akila and Sam both rolled their eyes at the mech and I chuckled a bit.

It was then that I noticed that the toy truck following Sam was no more and that it had transformed into a robot. Not surprising.

"That girl is grumpy considering she's creating new life," he groaned.

"Oh shut up, Wheelie, you don't have to deal with her 24/7. You can just retreat here. I'm stuck," Sam scolded. Wheelie shrugged.

"Alright guys, let's go!" Lennox yelled into the hangar. Everyone started going but Akila and I didn't move. We weren't really Autobots, so I guess we were just gonna stay here until they came back with the new 'Bots.

"Are ya coming?" Bee asked, using a movie line I didn't know.

I looked back at Akila who shrugged. "We're not Autobots," she told him.

Optimus stopped walking and turned towards us. "You live on the base and you fight Decepticons, I believe you are an honorary Autobot or, at least, a member of N.E.S.T.," he told us.

Akila nodded and followed the Autobots to the plane. I followed but I was still shocked. _I_ was an Autobot? Me? No friggin' way.

We all climbed into the plane and I sat on Bee's shoulder and Akila rested on Ironhide's hand. The plane took off and we flied at what felt like super speed.

After a couple minutes of traveling, I realized that Akila was laying against Ironhide's chest and Ironhide looked really happy. I looked over at the giant mech and smiled at him. Ironhide looked at me oddly and I looked down at Akila. "Did you ask her out?" I mouthed.

Ironhide looked down at my sister, whose eyes were shut and didn't notice our communication. He then looked back at me and smiled. "Tonight," he mouthed back. I sent him a thumbs-up then rested against Bee's helm.

"Arriving in Daytona," the pilot said over the intercom.

Ironhide shook Akila a bit and she stood up and stretched. "Geez, that was quick!" she commented.

"This is a army plane, after all," Sam said. The landing was bumpy and I almost fell off of Bee's shoulder before he caught me. When we got out, the Autobots (except for Wheelie) all transformed to their vehicle forms and activated their holoforms. Sunny and Sides both were a couple of inches taller than me. Sunstreaker had short blond hair, a yellow jacket, and dark blue skinny jeans. Sideswipe was curly, shaggy red hair and wore a red jacket with light blue skinny jeans. Arcee had long black hair and wore a pink sundress.

We went to the building that housed the cars and Lennox unlocked it for us. "While you guys are in there, we'll be looking around for the Xantium," he told Optimus. The Autobot leader nodded his head and stepped inside the building.

Inside, it was like every redneck's dream. NASCAR cars were sitting, gleaming in the moonlight. "Hey, look at this!" Sam called out. "Juan Pablo's car!"

Arcee smirked. "I didn't know you were so into NASCAR, Sam," she said.

Sam smiled back. "I'm not, but I know a cool car when I see one!" he told her, with a wink to Bumblebee. I smiled up at him.

"Bromance," I said nonchalantly between coughs. Akila laughed but the other Autobots didn't get it (go figure).

Sam began tracing the Target symbol slowly. "Don't get obsessed with it Sam," I told him, walking up to the car. I had to admit, it was a pretty cool car.

That is, until it transformed. The Target sign Sam had touched transformed until it ended up in the robots…erm… 'down there'. Sam made a disgusted face and I was laughing my head off.

The robot leaned down to Sam's height, which wasn't a big feat considering that he was short. "_Don't_ ye _dare_ be gettin' fresh with me, boy!" he growled with a Cockney accent.

A Nation Guard car and a Lowe's car near this new Autobots began to transform. Soon they turned into three short Autobots that looked similar.

"Greeting," Optimus said, stepping forward. "I am Optimus Prime and we welcome you to Earth."

The National Guard car tilted his head. "Prime? Why are you so tiny?" he asked with a Scottish accent.

"This is my human holoform so I fit in this world without exposing that I am an Autobot," Optimus said. He then went on to introduce all of the Autobots. Finally, he got to the only real humans in the room. "And these are our human companions, Samuel Witwicky, Brooke Walters, and Akila Mubarak." Whoa, since when did Optimus know our last names? Especially Akila's Egyptian last name?

"My name is Leadfoot," the Target car said. "This is Roadbuster," he pointed to the National Guard car then to the Lowe's car, "and Topspin. We're Wreakers."

"Wreakers?" I whispered to Bumblebee.

"They're a commando unit that is usually only called when the odds of victory are against us," he told me.

"They're also good mechanics," Ironhide added.

"What's wit the laptop?" Mudflap asked, pointing to an open laptop sitting on the desk nearby.

"No way!" Wheelie exclaimed, driving over to it. "Brains, it that you?"

The laptop (Yes, the _laptop_) transformed into an Autobot about the size of Wheelie with crazy grey troll hair that smoked with electricity. "Wheelie! What's up, man?" he yelled, pulling Wheelie into a tight bear hug.

"I thought youse was working for the Decepticons?"

Brains let Wheelie go and shook his head. "No way, man. I left them a while ago and was chilling out here. Cool thing that the Autobots landed here too or I'd be stuck watching hicks runnin' around," he explained.

The doors to the place opened and Lennox stepped in. "Hey guys, we found the Xantium, but it needs a _lot_ of work to get running again," he said.

Leadfoot stood up from his crouched position. "We can fix it! Leave it to us, fleshy!" he said.

Lennox put his hands on his hips. "_Fleshy?_ I'm a Major," he corrected.

"A _major_ fleshy. Even better," Roadbuster noted sarcastically. Topspin didn't say a word. I guess he was just shy or something.

We went outside into the cool day and a Mercedes and a Ferrari were waiting outside. "Ey! Mirage, Que, get up ya bums!" Leadfoot yelled, hitting the cars. They transformed until they turned into two tall 'Bots, the Mercedes looking a lot like Einstein. After Optimus introduced everyone again, we all headed into the plane to go back to the base. A second, bigger plane was going to be deployed later to pick up the Xantium.

When we got to the base, I went to the Rec. Room with both sets of twins and Bee. They all took turns with the four controllers and played their game while I watched, too small to hold the controllers.

Soon Optimus walked in with the Wreakers, Que, and Mirage following him. He was giving the group a tour of the base, and the Rec. Room must have been the last stop since it was about three o'clock now.

When they came in, the Wreakers ran straight for the game, demanding a turn. I was gine with that, and so were the other 'Bots, but the creepiest thing was Mirage, who was chilling by me.

Soon Mirage transformed and activated his holoform to sit next to me. I was shocked to see a tall guy about as old as Akila sitting next to be. He had spiked up black hair, a white tee shirt, faded jeans, and a leather jacket. A light stubble bordered his face and, I had to admit, looked _uber_ sexy.

"I don't think we ever-a actually met. My name is Mirage," he said, an Italian accent lining his voice.

"I-It's nice to meet you," I stuttered. I hated to say it, but Mirage was really hot!

He then reached out and grabbed my hand and kissed it in a romantic Italian way. I would of thought it was cute, but with the inappropriate grabbing and kissing I've experienced recently, I flinched at his touched.

Optimus must have noticed this because he walked up behind me. "Mirage, perhaps you'd like to see the security features Prowl has set up on the base," he said, trying to get the mech away from me. Mirage growled a bit but was not one to argue with his leader, so he deactivated his holoform and transformed into his bipedal mode.

Mirage walked to the door and I smiled at Optimus. "Thanks, Optimus," I told him.

Optimus winked at me. "No problem," he said, and walked off to show Mirage the surveillance room.

I stayed and watched the video game for a while until the alarm for a Decepticon attack went off. Bumblebee grabbed me and went to the main hangar while the two sets of twins and the Wreakers stayed and played video games. What bums.

When we got there, all the Autobots except for the ones in the Rec. Room. "The Decepticons are attacking a small Energon deposit in Tuba City. I believe Mirage, Que, and Bumblebee should go investigate," Optimus told us.

I raised my hand. "Excuse me, OP?" I asked. He nodded at me to speak. "Can I go? They might have something related to my mom."

Optimus grabbed his helm with his thumb and forefinger. "I-I don't know. I don't want you getting attacked by the Decepticons again," he explained. He also took a quick glance at Mirage, who was smiling at me.

"Come on, Optimus!" I begged. "Bumblebee will be with me! He'll keep me safe!" Bee nodded, helping my case.

Optimus finally nodded. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Before he could argue, Bumblebee and the two new 'Bots transformed. It was then that I got an up close look at Mirage's Ferrari holoform and it looked just as stunning as his holoform did. "Whoa," I muttered.

The window rolled down and Mirage's holoform smiled at me. "You want to-a ride with me?" he asked seductively. I was going to decline when Optimus interrupted.

"I'd feel a bit better if you rode with Bumblebee," he told me. I smiled up at him then went inside Bee and we were off, me still laughing at the look of disappointment on Mirage's face.

Bee and I rode with only pop music between us until I finally asked, "What's up with Optimus not liking Mirage?"

Bee's holoform shrugged. "You're a Womanizer, oh Womanizer oh. You're a Womanizer, baby," he sang out.

I shook my head. Why didn't I see it before? "I just _knew_ that Italian speaking fool was a womanizer!" I exclaimed. Bee laughed at me and we continued driving.

I could tell as we neared the Energon source. It was weird, but the colors got brighter and the contrast got sharper. When we arrived on the source, which was in the middle of the hot desert, I saw Starscream digging into the dirt with a large thing that reminded me of a shovel. When we got there, I jumped out of Bumblebee and he transformed along with the others.

"Wow Starscream, after all-a these vorns and you're still-a Megatron's lackey," Mirage commented.

Starscream dropped the shovel and looked at out little group. "Ah, Autobots, so great to see you on this planet," he said. I heard him charge his cannons and shoot, cropping Bumblebee in his door wings.

Bumblebee ran forward, shooting his cannons. Starscream did a flip over it and kicked my guardian in his chest. Mirage sent a kick to Starscream's helm, but the Decepticon ducked and pushed Mirage down.

Que ran to Starscream but he grabbed Mirage's stunned body by the arm and used him as almost a bat to knock Que down. He landed near me, spitting golden Energon near my feet. "Um, ew?" I commented. This just only proved my point that Que was creepy.

Bee was up and was in an arm-lock with Starscream when Screamer twisted Bee's arm around his back. Bee quickly flipped around and knocked Starscream to the ground, his face first. When he was successfully disarmed, I came out of my hiding spot and walked up to Starscream. Mirage was trying to convince Bumblebee to kill the Decepticon second-in-command.

"He's worth a lot to them! If we rip his spark out, we can get rid of him forever!" he argued.

"My CPU is agreeing with him, Bumblebee," Que supported.

They just couldn't kill Starscream! I mean, ok, yeah, he's killed a lot of Autobots, but I just couldn't let him die! "Wait! Don't kill him!" I yelled out, walking up to the paralyzed Decepticon. I decided to get some information out of him. "Is my mother on your moon base?" I demanded to know.

"You're a smart femme. No wonder Megatron has such an interest in you…," Starscream choked out.

"Tell me!" I growled out. Bumblebee put his loaded cannon near Starscream's head, prompting him to tell me the truth.

"I think it's time you met the newest Decepticons," Starscream muttered. "You'll like them. Laserbeak?" he called out. I heard a noise that sounded a lot like a mix of a hawk and a robot. But I didn't have time to look around when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back. I set my hand back and brought it back to see my hand covered in blood. When I looked up, a large bird-like robot with bright red optics was staring down at me.

"Hello femme," he growled out. Huge metal tentacle things popped out from the ground and hit Bumblebee and Que down, releasing Starscream.

"I surrender! Don't hurt me!" Que yelled out. Wimp.

From the source of the tentacles came a tall robot with one red eye who was controlling the tentacles. "Shockwave," Mirage growled out. By this time, Starscream had transformed and flew away, leaving the battle to Laserbeak and Shockwave.

"We need to retreat!" Bumblebee told Mirage. Mirage shook his head. "She's hurt!"

"Bring Brooke back, send the other-a Autobots! We'll hold-a them off till then," he told Bee. Bumblebee nodded and transformed, his human holoform picking me up.

By now my vision was fuzzy. "I can't see, Bee," I muttered tiredly.

Bee muttered something but I just couldn't hear it. I couldn't hear anything except for the crashes of the battle nearby.

My vision was completely blurred and I could barely even see Bumblebee in front of me. He yelled something else but I still couldn't make it out. So Bee slid me in the back of his vehicle form and sat next to me while he drove off. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, a sensation I could barely feel. I felt the car swerve a bit and soon I was out, cold.

* * *

_There guys, I wrote 11 PAGES for you guys, so I think I deserve at least one review. Come on guys, seriously!_

_Songs Bee used:_  
_'Manipulation'- Fear Factory  
__'Womanizer'- Britney Spears_


	12. Visions

_Moment-Of-Reason: Que resembled that creepy Albert Einstein looking dude in TF: DotM who is a complete wimp. In the Transformers wiki, it says that Mirage talks with an Italian accent because he is a Ferrari 458 Italia_

_Needswork: Alright, if you're going to leave a review saying that my character 'lacks depth' and is a mary sue, I'd like you to please at least log in and leave a signature. I mean, how do I trust a review that does it anonymously? I will work on those areas but come on._

On with the story! Oh, and answer the **POLL** in my profile, kthanksbai!

* * *

_I was in utter darkness until finally I happened to see a large sized RV. It looked familiar and I soon recognized it as the RV my family used to live in when we traveled the world. My body was nowhere to be found and it was like I was just seeing the picture, like on a movie screen._

_The door to the RV slammed open and a younger me walked into the car, dragging a square suitcase behind me. I looked to be about 8 years old, my short black hair pulled into two pink tails. After I climbed up the stairs and set the suitcase down, 11 year old Akila followed behind me, her curly midnight hair hanging down to the middle of her back. I soon recognized this memory as the day Akila moved in with us after her mom went missing._

_"I'm glad you're moving in," I told her, still panting a bit. I remembered all the things she had in her bag and how heavy it was._

_Akila sat down on the couch. "Our lives became entwined because of the robots…," she muttered. "What happened that day, especially the robots, is between you and I, okay?"_

_My 8 year old self just nodded. "Do you think we'll ever see them again?"_

_Akila shook her head. "Probably not," she said. Wow, how wrong she was, considering one of them would ask her out in the future._

_The vision changed to a small computer lab with kids in uniforms sitting using a computer program. I recognized the room as my private elementary school in London, England. We stayed there while my parents were giving a speech about their travels. I also recognized my little 10 year old self, with bangs pulled back and pink glasses resting on my nose._

_I watched as my younger self begin to press furiously on the computer but the screen didn't change a bit. "Come on…," my younger self muttered angrily. Finally my younger self growled softly and slammed my fist on the desk, quiet enough that the teacher didn't hear. But suddenly, I yelped and pulled back my hand from what looked like pain. Then, the light in the room flickered and all the computers in the room turned off._

_"Must be a power outage. There is a storm going outside," the teacher calmed the kids with her soft British twang. My younger self looked at my computer, which was the only one still on. How did that happen? D-Did I cause that?_

_Before I could think more, the vision changed. I was in the RV again, with my mother leaning against the counter reading a note. Akila, who was about 16, was sitting and doing her homework. She looked a bit more like herself, except she had a bit more zits on her and braces. I was about 13 and also had braces and larger glasses on. My body was wet and I had a towel wrapped around me._

_"Dear Mrs. Walters," my mom read allowed, probably translating. "This letter is to inform you that, as of November 5, your daughter, Brooke Walters, is under a five-day suspension for violating school policies. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss this. Sincerely, Mr. Takamari." She set the letter down and glared at me. "Brooke! What did you do?"_

_My younger self rolled her eyes. "Come on mom, Mr. Takamari hates me!" Well that was true. Mr. Takamari was my teacher when we lived in Tokyo and he absolutely hated Americans since his grandparents were killed by the Atomic Bomb. "All I did was lean up against the wall and the fire sprinklers just went off! They don't even have fire alarms in the school yet they detected the fire where I was standing."_

_I remember how I was grounded that week that I was suspended, and wasn't allowed to leave the RV. Do you KNOW how hard it was for me to be in the land of anime and not be allowed to leave your RV?_

_The vision changed to a larger room with about thirty desks. The window outside was open and the bright sunlight poured in, showing dead grass outside. My 14 year old self, now free of braces and glasses, was sitting next to my mom. The teacher, a man with short black hair and black glasses, was looking at us. I remembered his name as Mr. Adam Whelp, my 8th grade teacher from Las Vegas, Nevada._

_"Ma'am, I have been teaching your daughter for a while and I believe she should go to a…special school," he told my mom._

_My mom crossed her arms. "I don't see why you think she should go to a 'special' school," she asked._

_"Let me rephrase…..I know she has some special abilities and we need to harness them," he said._

_My mom rolled her eyes. "You mean test on her? No thank you. Come on, Brooke," she growled, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out. I remember how I didn't go to school for the rest of that week, then we left to go to Washington D.C._

_The vision changed again, this time to a metal planet I soon recognized as Cybertron. Robots of all optic colors walked around in peace._

_My sight changed to a giant temple and I saw a younger version of Optimus. I didn't notice the marks that made him resemble his Peterbily self, but I could recognize him from the red armor and the blue helm. He had less battle scars on him, especially the large one on his face, and had less pain in his optics._

"_You sent for me, Sentinel Prime?" he asked. In front of him was a red robot with soft blue optics. Prime? Another Prime before Optimus? Was this the 'Bot that Optimus said was his teacher?_

_"Optimus! Yes, come here," he greeted, then pointed to the sun. "See how the sun seems to move across the sky? And now it dips beyond the ancient city…but worry not! In mere hours it will seem to rise again on the horizon opposite, as Cybertron herself turns so that we may begin a new solar cycle." He sounded astonished at the mere sun. "Now, go gather your things, we travel to Tripticon when the sky is bright again."_

_Optimus looked torn. "What? S-Sentinel… I wanted to go to Metrotitan with Elita-One, she has-"_

_"There will be time for that in the future, my boy! We have much to do!" Sentinel interrupted. Note to self: Ask Optimus about this 'Elita-One'. "Cybertron has not been united since the era of the Primes. We must establish a government, Optimus."_

_"But…what is there to establish? All the Tribal Leaders gave their allegiance. Everyone is behind you," Optimus argued._

_Sentinel looked away from Optimus. "Optimus…I shall not be leading our people."_

_"But-" Sentinel placed a servo on Optimus's shoulder._

_"I am tired. I need to rest and…I am a uniter, not a leader. But you… You see how easily you defused the situation between Megatron and your new friend?"_

_Optimus stood back but Sentinel's hand still rested on his shoulder. "_What_ are you saying?" _

_Sentinel smiled at him. "I'm saying it is your destiny to lead the Autobots… Optimus Prime." Optimus looked shocked and I've never seen him that scared ever. Then I noticed that, behind a pillar, was Megatron. And he looked ANGRY. Was this how Optimus and Megatron's rivalry started? From Optimus getting the rank of Prime?_

_The vision changed once again. How many visions would I have? This time, it was in the desert, much like where Akila and I first saw the Autobots._

_This time, there were about seven giant robots, bigger than Optimus, standing around a corner in a mountainside. They had long, sharp metal beard-like things that reminded me of the Fallen. I remember his creepy face when I was looking at the Autobot achieves._

_"The only way we can make sure the Fallen never get possession of the Matrix is if we protect it, even after death," one of them explained._

_"So the only way is to guard it in a tomb of our own chassis," another said._

_"We sacrifice ourselves," the third one stated._

_"We brought this upon the humans, and we need to protect them," the first one explained. All of the things nodded and there was a bright light. Soon the robots were gone and the corner was crumbled with rocks. I instantly recognized the group of robots as, indeed, the Primes. Yes, THE Primes._

_I watched as the rocks crumbled into dust and blew away. The light brightened and the wind picked up. Suddenly, my body showed up and I could see my hands again. The sunlight was blocked as seven beings walked in front of me. The Primes._

_"Megatron is planning something, Brooke," one said._

_'No derp,' I wanted to say, but I kept quiet._

_"You are the only one who can stop him," another added._

_"Me? Why me? I'm just a fifteen year old girl. Why not choose Optimus? HE'S a Prime!" I asked._

_A second one stepped forward. "You are bonded to him, Brooke. Use the bond he forced onto you to your advantage. Feel what he is planning," he told me._

_"You have extraordinary powers, Brooke," a third told me, noticing my skeptical look. "Use the visions we allowed you to recall. Think about it."_

_I shut my eyes and thought. Then, not surprisingly, another vision came. This was not one of me, or Cybertron, but it was in the desert, and a younger Sam was laying all hurt on the sandy ground. A younger Mikaela kneeled next to him, being held back by Lennox. Lennox pushed her back and started doing chest compressions on Sam. There was a sock in his hand and my vision zoomed to the sparkly black dust coming out of it._

_When they started using the IED on Sam, my vision followed the dust. Several specks flew in the wind and I watched it fly until it hit a blue wet thing. My vision zoomed out to see it to be my younger, seven-year-old self. The dust landed in my eye?_

_The soldiers pushed me away and I went back to Sam. All the dust in his hand went together and formed... No way. The Matrix?_

_I opened my eyes. I had seen enough to know what they were trying to tell me._

Only this time, when I opened my eyes, I didn't see the Primes, but I saw my sister, sitting on the end of the bed I was laying on. I recognized the room I was in as Ratchet's med bay.

Akila noticed that I was awake and jumped on my, crushing me with a big bear hug. "Oh thanks the Gods, you're alright! You were out for TWO DAYS, Brooke! Bumblebee's been worried sick!" she exclaimed, not letting me go.

"Akila... You're suffocating me," I choked out. Akila jumped back and apologized. "Anyway, I.. had these visions...of the past. And...something. Like I was in my body, but not, you know?"

"An out-of-body experience?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah. So... I figured out why I've had these dreams all my life. The Primes helped me decode it."

Akila cocked her head. "Isn't it because you're somewhat bonded with Megatron?" she asked.

I shook my head. That wasn't what the Primes were trying to tell me. "Akila, that day we saw the Autobots, in Egypt 8 years ago, something happened to me..." I began.

"What, are you like part Autobot or something?" she asked, a little worried.

"No, no," I assured her. Then I said the words that I never thought I'd ever say:

"I hold some of the power of the Matrix within me."

* * *

**_Sorry for the shortness, but holy shishkabob! Cliffy! What does Brooke's power with the Matrix mean to her?_**

**_The part with Sentinel and Prime was, actually, from the comic 'Transformers Dark of the Moon: Foundation Issue 1'. I thought it'd be pretty cool to see a memory. Only, what did that memory have to do with Brooke and the Matrix, hm? We'll find out!_**

**_P.S. I hate writing these author's notes in a bold print, but I used too much italics and regular writing in here, so I'm stuck with this _**


	13. Powers and Love ALWAYS mix, duh!

_Well guys, I finished this chapter WAYYY earlier than expected! If I don't update again by this weekend, I probably won't update for a while because Band Camp started this week. SO, I have it from 9-5 this week and 9-9 next week, so I will be WAY too tired to update the story next week! So yeah, This chapter is awesome and the 'menstruate oil' joke you will see in a second came curtsy of my dad who was giving me suggestions when I needed ideas for this chapter xD _

* * *

After I woke up, Akila got Ratchet in the room and he ran some test on me. I told him about all my visions and Ratchet didn't say a word, still contemplating what I said.

Ratchet scanned me over and over and finally Akila started yelling at him. "Will you say something? What do the Primes mean that she 'holds the power of the Matrix'? Is she gonna, like, menstruate oil or something now?" she demanded to know.

Ratchet rolled his optics as I glared at my sister. "Menstruate oil? Really? You are so gross!" Then I looked over at Ratchet. "That's not, uh, actually gonna happen, is it Ratch?" I asked with nervous laughter.

Ratchet studied the diagrams, alarming me. "I've never seen anything like this. It's as if your organs have grown over time to provide insulation to electricity. It's as if you're a storage unit of electricity, and can release it at will," he told me.

"Which would explain all those random times I got kicked out of school," I concluded.

Ratchet nodded. "This is why Megatron bonded with you. With your power, he could activate ancient weapons and destroy the world," he told me.

'No pressure,' I thought. "But I also saw a memory of Sentinel Prime giving Optimus the rank of Prime and Megatron being pissed off. How does that relate to me having the power of the Matrix?"

Ratchet shrugged and said, "I'm not entirely sure... Perhaps your visions mingled with the ones you see as a result of Megatron's bond. Nevertheless, Megatron feels that if he can't have you, no one can, which is why Laserbeak and Shockwave almost killed you."

The memory of the fight came back to me. "Oh my gosh, I forgot about that! Is everyone okay?" I asked.

"Everyone's fine," Akila told me, "As soon as Bee left with you, Laserbeak and Shockwave retreated." I asked her how Bee was. "He suffered minimal damage; he felt the most damage over the Protector Bond that you guys share. He's still in his vehicle form Brooke, and he won't change back or speak to anyone. He's mad at himself because he wasn't able to protect you."

Protect me? It was my fault I got hurt and he's beating himself up for it? "I need to go see him," I said, then looked at Ratchet. "Can I go see him? Then I'll come back and do whatever tests you want me to do."

Ratchet scoffed a bit then nodded. "I suppose a few minutes wouldn't hurt. You have to be back so I can do a few more tests later though," he said. I nodded and slid out of the cot, letting my sneaker-clad shoes hit the ground. My jean shorts had a few rips here and there and my shirt was ripped up in the back. Luckily Akila brought my jacket and I put it on.

After getting somewhat stable on my feet, I left to the hangar. Once there, a lot of the soldiers were looking at me like I got hit by a bus (I probably looked that way). But I ignored their stares and went straight for the yellow Camaro parked by the enterence. As I got closer, I realized that Bee's holoform was on and it was leaned against the driver's wheel, his head buried in his arms.

I opened the door and stepped in. "Just leave me alooone," he sang, his radio muffled. He must of had his sensors offline since he couldn't tell it was me.

"Bee?" I asked. Bee's holoform shot up and quickly gave me a giant hug before I could analyze his face.

"Thank Primus you're ok!" Bee blurted out. "I thought you were dead! I'm so sorry! I promise I won't let you get hurt again!"

I rubbed my hand through his blond hair. "Bee, it was my fault that I got hurt. I insisted I come with you guys and I got hurt. I should have listened to you and Optimus," I comforted.

Bee finally pulled away and smiled at me. I could see tear lines on his face. "Oh, Bee...," I muttered, wiping a tear away. Bee shooed my hand and smiled.

"Relax," he said. "I'm happy now. They're tears of joy."

"Good," I told him. "And now that I'm better, you have to transform and be happy! It hurts to see you so sad, Bee!"

Bee nodded and his I stepped out of him as he transformed. "Let's go to the rec. room. I know where Sideswipe keeps Halo," he suggested. I smiled at him and nodded, knowing he must have seen my favorite video games on my Facebook.

* * *

Ironhide walked in the med bay and immediately noticed Akila and Ratchet studying a scan of what looked like Brooke on the screen.

"Hey Akila," he said. "Would you like to go for a ride?" Akila shook her head, not taking her eyes off the scan. Finally Ironhide just picked her up and set her in his hand. "You've been stuck in the med bay for two days. It can't be healthy."

Akila smiled. "As ironic as that sounds, I need to see what's wong with my sister," she protested.

Ratchet waved his hand. "Go ride; I'm not gonna be close to finding if she is actually tied to the Matrix or not for a while," he told the Egyptian. Akila smiled at him, clearly noticing his attempt to make the human leave him alone.

"So there, we can go," Ironhide declared. Akila hesitated and the mech said, "Don't worry about Brooke, I saw her with Bumblebee heading towards the rec. room."

Akila finally smiled. "Okay, fine, we can go," she said. Ironhide put the girl down and transformed, allowing Akila to get in the passenger seat.

* * *

I was playing in the rec. room with Bee, Sides, and Sunny for a couple of hours. Turns out that, while I was unconscious for those two days, the twins were able to find a couple human-sized controllers as a 'Get Well' present.

"Brooke Walters, report to the med bay," an alarm called out.

I paused the game and said, "Be right back guys, gotta go get some scans done by Doc Hatchet." I had caught up on the nicknames the Autobots had for each other, so I decided to start using them.

"I'll go too," Bumblebee said, setting his controller down. "I wanna make sure you didn't get too hurt at that battle." I smiled at my guardian's protectiveness and jumped up on his waiting hand.

When we got to the med bay, Akila was gone but her presence was replaced by the hulking form of Optimus Prime. When Bumblebee and I entered the bay, both mechs turned to us.

"Took long enough. Where were you, the other side of the base?" Ratchet grumbled.

Optimus motioned his hand to calm the mech. "Relax, Ratchet, they're here now." He nodded to me. "Brooke, I'm glad to see you are feeling better."

I smiled at him. "Me too, but apparently I'm some sort of electrical insulator," I told him. Both Optimus and Bumblebee looked at Ratchet, probably thinking that I was crazy.

Ratchet shrugged, pulling up a scan of what I recognized as my body. Around some of the lines of my organs was a blue shimmer. "That blue is electricity build up. Over time, her body had adapted to the amount of electricity and stored it," Ratchet explained.

"This electricity can't harm her, can it?" Bumblebee asked.

Ratchet shook his head. "No, but it can harm others, especially Cybertronians. The electricity is what allowed Brooke and Megatron to spark-merge, whereas bringing someone like Akila to his spark wouldn't do anything," he explained.

"Speaking of which, where is Akila?" I asked, not seeing my sister anywhere.

"She went out to dinner with Ironhide." Awww! Ironhide defiantly would ask her out tonight!

"So how can Brooke use this electricity be used to protect herself?" Optimus asked.

Ratchet looked at me and said, "If she is trained on how to use it, she can use it to offline weapons and render the operator defenseless. Problem is, she's the only one who can do this, so I don't know who can train her."

Optimus looked thoughtful. Ratchet had a good point, who in the WORLD could help me with this?

"I'll look into it get back to you. It may end up that Brooke will have to just self teach herself," Optimus finally said.

"I will see if I can find a way for her to release the electricity," Ratchet said, nodded.

Bumblebee kneeled down to me as Ratchet went to his scans and Optimus went to do some research. "We're going to watch movie tonight, huh?"

"We gonna shake up, so hurry it up no wastin' time!" Bumblebee sang in happiness.

I smiled and jumped in Bee's hand and we went off to his quarters, which were different from when I last saw them. Now there was a large television and a giant Cybertronian-sized pillow which was about two times larger than a king sized bed. Bee sat me down on the pillow and pulled out two movies, both of which I loved. After I chose a movie, Bee put it in and laid down on the pillow, texting Akila about how I was ok. The pillow was big for Bumblebee since he wasn't the biggest Autobot there was, so he could lay on it and I could too with room to spare.

We watched the movie and another one then I started to nod off. Finally, I fell asleep, leaning on Bumblebee's arm.

* * *

Ironhide pulled up to a nearby nice restaurant and he activated his holoform. Then he led Akila inside and they were seated at a booth where there were some other couples seated.

After ordering her meal, Akila settled down and smiled at Ironhide, who smiled back. "So, what have you been up to today?" she asked.

"Just retraining Que and Mirage on how to shoot small targets. Apparently, living a couple of vorns on a spaceship can really influence your shooting," he told her. "What have you been up to?"

Akila shrugged. "Trying to make sure that Brooke was okay. She's my little sister after all, and that battle really freaked me out," she told him.

The two continued with small talk until Akila's food came. "Those nutrients don't look as edible as the nutrients on Cybertron. It just looks...unhealthy," Ironhide commented of her salad.

"Well thanks, that just makes me want to eat it SO much more," Akila said. She did, however, eat the food and Ironhide didn't take his eyes off of her face.

After she ate and the food was taken, Ironhide thought it was time to make a move. So, when she was looking at her phone, Ironhide hopped off the seat and slid in the same booth with Akila. Akila, not noticing the holoform next to her, looked straight forward. "Brooke says...," then she stopped and looked to her right where Ironhide was.

"Brooke said what?" he asked, slipping his hand into hers.

Her voice turned into a whisper. "She said that she was fine and she would explain later. She's having a movie night with Bumblebee," she told him.

"Akila, I need to ask you something..." Ironhide felt nervous, knowing it was the time.

"What?" Akila asked, still whispering.

"I know you've been though a lot, and we weren't the best of friends when we first met. But when our bond formed, I felt a strong connection to you. So, I was wondering, if you would, as you say, 'go out' with me," he asked.

Akila smiled from ear to ear. "Yes, okay Ironhide," she told him.

Ironhide smiled and leaned in a bit. Akila closed her eyes as the holoform began to kiss her for the first time. The kiss wasn't very passionate but it was a kiss nonetheless and both partners enjoyed every bit of it.

"I love you," Ironhide muttered as the kiss ended. Akila could do noting but smile at how she landed herself such a great man…er, mech.

When Akila returned to her quarters, she had a huge grin on her face and was walking proudly. Now that she was settled in an area, she knew this relationship would last for a long time.

"Brooke! I-" She froze when she noticed her sister passed out on her bed. _'Bee must have brought her to bed,_' Akila thought. Then, without another thought, she went to her bed, dreaming of the upcoming adventures she would have with her new boyfriend.

* * *

_So, whattaya think? I like the whole beginning but I don't really like the part when Ironhide asks Akila out and kisses her because I've never been asked out OR kissed yet, so I didn't really know what to say. Plus I was rushing because it's 9:48 and I'm going to bed at 10 (YES, 10!) for Camp tomorrow. It's hard work being in the color guard! I am SO sore! So yeah, R&R and **VOTE ON THE NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE! IT WILL HELP ME MAKE A DECISION AND COME OUT WITH A NEW CHAPTER SOONER!**_

_Songs:_  
_Leave Me Alone- Michael Jackson_  
_Bring Em Out- Hawk Nelson_


	14. Trying Out the New Powers

_So guys, here's a cute little filler chapter. I don't know WHEN I'm going to upload again since I have Band Camp from 9am-9pm all next week so I'll really have no time to plan, write, or even THINK about anything but band and color guard xD So thanks for voting on the poll guys! I have an amazing idea for how Brooke is going to learn her electricity powers, so I hope ya'll like it!_

* * *

The next morning, Akila was practically shaking me awake. It was about noon (Who knew staying up with Bumblebee all night would make me so tired?) and she had to describe every detail of how Ironhide asked her out last night. I found it cute that she had finally found a boyfriend who she wouldn't have to break up with because of our family relocating.

"It was so cute Brooke, I wish I could just replay it again in my mind!" she exclaimed.

I smiled and crossed my arms with a smug grin on my face. "All this considering you two were at each other's necks a couple of weeks ago," I commented.

Akila rolled her eyes. "Okay, he can be a pervert sometimes but he really cares for me."

"I've never seen you this happy before. I'm glad he finally asked you out," I told her.

With that, she got off of my bed and allowed me to get ready for the day while she finished up her homework. I hadn't signed up for the online school yet but I knew I would be forced to soon by either Optimus or Lennox. To be honest, I liked this period of no school; it relaxed me. But to do anything in this world I'd need an education, so I'd have to take the classes sooner or later.

After I got dressed and Akila turned in the work, we headed down to the cafeteria for some lunch, even though I hadn't even had breakfast. We got our food (Which was…burgers, I believe) and started eating. Soon, Ironhide and Bumblebee joined us, sitting next to Akila and myself respectively.

"So 'Hide, you finally asked Akila out. Good on you," I congratulated.

Ironhide smiled at Akila then looked back at me. "Bumblebee told me you have some sort of electric powers. Do you know how to use them?" he asked me, obviously interested in my new 'weapon'.

"I not entirely sure how to work them yet… Optimus and Ratchet said they could see if there would be a teacher or any way to help me," I explained. "They said it would be a good idea to use against the Decepticons if I'm ever targeted again."

Bumblebee looked at me. "Hopefully that won't be soon considering that there hasn't been any Decepticon activity recently…anywhere."

Akila looked at Bumblebee quizzically and asked, "Could they have given up after what happened on the air base?"

"I doubt it," Ironhide answered, crossing his arms. "Those punk-ass Decepticons always have something in their mind."

_We're still here, Brooke…_ a sinister voice echoed in my mind. I shivered and looked around, but the familiar owner of that voice was no where in sight. Weird.

Before I could think more about it, an intercom interrupted me. "Brooke Walters and Autobot Bumblebee, report to the Med Bay," the voice said.

I face palmed at the announcement. "I spend _way_too much time in there," I commented. Everyone laughed then Bumblebee and I made our way to the Med Bay.

When we got there, Optimus and Ratchet were–AGAIN–waiting for us. Geez, déjà vu much? Optimus made a noise like he was trying to get my attention once I started staring at the scans.

"Ratchet and I have done research and the only mech who would be able to help you, an Autobot named Jolt, was killed by Shockwave. So we have no choice to see if you can self-teach yourself," he told me.

HOW could I self-teach myself? "Um, how am I supposed to release electricity, let alone energy itself, from my fingers?" I asked them, wiggling my fingers in front of my face.

Ratchet rolled his optics at me. "Supposedly from my scans, it seems that if you force the electricity to go it will follow your orders. It should be simple enough for a human," he grumbled. Optimus sent him a disapproving look but Ratchet didn't really care.

"So where can I practice? If I hit any of you guys with my electricity, it will disarm you," I asked them.

Bumblebee stepped up to answer this one. "Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son," he sang, transforming into his Camaro form. He opened the passenger door for me. "You coming or what?"

I shrugged at the two older 'Bots and climbed inside Bee. He drove out of the Bay and into the sunlight where I noticed that it was overcast with some storm clouds in the distance. He drove through back roads that I had never been on until we got to this giant land clearing that looked like an old area where cows ate on the grass. I got out of Bee and looked at his holoform, who was about to get out.

"Hey Bee?" He stopped moving and turned his attention to me. "Maybe I should just practice this by myself."

Bumblebee looked hurt and it pained me to see him like that. "What do you mean?" he asked. I smiled him, trying to cheer him up. But he still looked sad.

"If I harm you Bee, I can't help fix you and I'll never forgive myself. Why don't you go see Mikaela and see how she's doing with her pregnancy? I'm sure Sam would just love a break from her." I suggested.

Bee sighed, obviously seeing where I was coming from. "What if something happens?" he asked.

"I'll go hide in the trees and call you. I promise," I told him. He still looked hesitant. "Come on Bee, please? For me?" I begged. He finally nodded and looked towards the road. I backed away from the car and he drove off slowly, probably still debating whether he should go or not.

Once he was gone I walked into the field. "Hm…what to do…." I said to no one.

I guess I would try what Ratchet told me to do. I held up a hand with two of my fingers outstretched, something I saw someone do in a TV show I used to watch. I tried to feel the energy stored inside of me but it really just felt like hyperactivity and not electricity. Still, I tried to center all of the energy into my fingers. Nothing really happened. So, I tried again. Still nothing. By now I was working up a sweat, a combination of my work and the humidity from the upcoming storm.

"This will never freaking work!" I yelled, wiping the sweat off my brow. But right when my hand flicked away from my head and hit an angle towards the sky lightening shot from my hand and hit the clouds. I stood, stunned for a moment and looked at the cloud, hearing loud thunder that went along with it.

"D-Did I do that?" I wondered aloud. Then as if the sky opened up, it started raining on my head. "Of course I did that….," I muttered in annoyance.

I was able to run underneath a tree (I know, not the safest thing at the moment) and pulled out my phone. I quickly tried to text Bumblebee to come get me, but a shock of lightening not far away caused my phone to mess up and shut off. A shock radiated from it, but I wasn't hurt. "How did I not get hurt?" I wondered. "Oh yeah, my innards store electricity."

"Haven't your parents ever taught you not to go under a tree during storms?" a voice asked. I turned to see a boy about college age who had long black almost blue hair pulled into a ponytail leaning up against another tree trunk. He wore a blue shirt and light jeans which were not wet at all.

I stood up quickly. "I don't know who or what you are, but don't take another step closer," I threatened. Was it a Decepticon? It was too dark for me to see the color of his eyes, but his grin didn't look Decepticon. But he also wasn't wearing anything that indicated that he was an Autobot.

He smiled and put his hands up. "Relax, relax, I'm not here to hurt you!" he told me. I relaxed a bit but my guard was still up.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked him.

"My name's Derrick. I saw that bolt of lightening you produced and I can do the same," he said.

I crossed my arms. "Oh yeah? Show me," I told him. Derrick shrugged and walked into the storm. He closed his eyes and but his hands out. Surprisingly, a large bolt of electricity shot out from his hands towards the heavens. When he came back under the tree, my jaw was still on the floor.

"I am an Area 51 experiment gone wrong," he explained. "They let me go as long as I never used my powers against the U.S. They let me move to Navada and go to college. How about you?"

'Oh yeah, a giant power from some other world is inside me so now I'm one giant storage unit of electricity'. That'd scare him off. "Um…that's a little personal," I told him.

Derrick shrugged. "Ok, look, you come back here tomorrow and I'll teach you how to REALLY use those powers of yours. There's gonna be another storm tomorrow so it'll be a good time," he told me.

I looked at him and the storm roaring near. "Why not now? It's, like, 2 o'clock!" I asked. Watch me show up tomorrow and him ditch me.

"Because I think your ride is here,' he told me, pointing behind me. I turned around to the road to see a giant Peterbilt roll up to the curb. Why was Optimus coming to get me?

I turned back to Derrick to tell him that he had better come tomorrow but he was no where in sight. "Derrick?" I called out, looking around. Oh well, creep. I just forgot it and ran out of the rain to the giant semi waiting for me.

Once I got close, the passenger door opened and I walked in, careful not to slip on the wet. When I got in, the AC turned on and the door slammed shut. "Here," I heard. I turned to see Optimus's holoform handing me the red jacket with the flame design that he usually wore. I tried to decline but he still held it out and I too it, wrapping it around my shoulders.

"Sorry I'm getting your jacket," I looked down at my wet tennis shoes, "and your alt. form all wet."

Optimus shook his head. "It's fine, it's fine," he told me. Then he looked out at the storm. "Why didn't you call Bumblebee or one of the Autobots when it began to storm?" he asked. I pulled out my phone, which looked a little burned, and showed it to Optimus. He took it and stared at the marks. "Perhaps we can get you a newer, electricity-proof phone," he told me. I smiled at him and he smiled also, setting the phone down.

"So where's Bumblebee?" I asked him.

"Mikaela insisted that he help her fix one of her cars since she cannot do it while she is pregnant and Samuel is not very… vehicle savvy. He was worried when it started raining and you wouldn't answer your phone, so he called me to come pick you up," he told me.

"Oh," I muttered. "I wish he would have called the twins or something… I wouldn't want to bother you from your work."

Optimus shrugged. "It's fine. Both sets of twins are currently guarding the Xantium in Florida, plus I wanted to come. I am very…interested in your powers. I have never known an… organic such as yourself have unnatural powers like you possess. Were you able to use the powers?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Not really. I was able to produce one lightening bolt but that's about it," I told him.

"You didn't harm yourself, did you?" he asked me, scanning my body. Since when was he so concerned about me?

I waved his concerned glance away. "Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. I'm gonna do some more practice tomorrow," I assured him. He told me to be safe and we drove back to the base. On our way back, the patter of the rain on the roof and soft country music sang from his radio.

Soon we got back to base and Optimus drove me to his office where he transferred my contacts into a new phone. I then left the office, letting him work on his paperwork. I went back to my quarters and changed into a black tank top and jean shorts. I also noticed that I still had Optimus's red jacket, so I threw it on over my tank top and reminded myself to give it to him later.

"What can I do? All the twins are gone at Florida, Bee is at Sam's, Ironhide and Akila are probably off somewhere alone, the Wreakers are fixing their ship, Dino scares me, and OP is doing paperwork…" I muttered aloud, walking into the hangar. I just had to stop talking to myself!

"You could hang out with Mirage," a voice said. I turned around to see Mirage standing there in a tight shirt that was unbuttoned at the top with tight skinny jeans.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I think you're the only one who likes that idea," I told him.

Mirage rolled his eyes. "Come on Brooke, just let me take you out somewhere. There's that new movie that came out, which I know you will want to see," he begged.

Would it really be that bad seeing a movie with Mirage? I KNOW it wouldn't be a date but… I needed something to do. "Fine, okay, but if you do anything stupid, I will electrify you into stasis lock," I threatened.

"You now a lot about us for an organic," he said. Then, in a low sexy voice, he said, "I like it."

I punched his arm and he laughed, is Ferrari form driving up. His holoform got in the drivers seat and I got in the passenger seat, a seatbelt wrapping snugly around me. We drove off the base to a small hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop.

"Sandwiches?" I wondered.

Mirage shrugged. "I heard it was the number one sandwich shop in the area," he explained

"WHERE did you hear that?"

"The advertisement," he told me. The ad, of course. I rolled my eyes at him and smiled.

We went inside and I ordered a sandwich (Which Mirage paid for, surprisingly). We sat in a booth and he tried to make some small talk.

"So how long have you been living at the base?" Mirage asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know… maybe a month? Maybe two? The days just seem to blur together now," I told him.

We continued the talk until I was done and we went to the movie. We bought the tickets and went into the movie. I used to go to movies almost every day but since I moved in with the Autobots, I haven't gone to the movies in forever. I missed the smell of the buttery popcorn and overpriced drinks.

When we got in the theater, Mirage and I sat in the middle of the seat rows. A lot of people came into the theater and the young girls seemed to flock around Mirage's holoform.

When the movie started, Mirage set his open hand on the arm rest, as if waiting for me to hold it. I just shrunk back in the seat, letting the sweet cologne smell from Optimus's jacket engulf me. It smelled a lot better than Mirage's cologne, more welcome and friendly, not artificial and impractical.

When we got out of the movie, it was about seven o'clock and the sun was setting, making a beautiful red and purple color on the sky. Mirage's hand kept bumping into mine, probably trying to grab it.

"Will you stop!" I yelled at him, making some of the girls that were staring at him cringe. Mirage almost replied but suddenly stared off into space. "Hey? Um…Mark?" I called, using a made-up human name. He still didn't move.

Finally, he came back to Earth and looked at me, a bit of anger in his eyes. "I have to leave; Ratchet was able to find an Energon source nearby and Prime wants me to go search it and collect some Energon," he told me.

"So you're just leaving me here?" I asked him.

"Ironhide and your sister are in the area and should be here soon. Ratchet wants me to go right away because he's worried that the Decepticons could find it first," he said. I sighed and walked outside, sitting on a bench while I saw Mirage drive away.

So for about five minutes I played around on the new phone Optimus gave me, trying to learn all the controls on it when a big group of people came out of the theater, probably from another movie, so I started watching them.

A slender dark-skinned man with his young daughter, a girl with long braids in her hair.

A large, muscular black-haired man wearing a baseball cap with a teenage brunette girl wearing a tee shirt and shorts.

A young boy my age with shaggy blond hair with his arms wrapped around a short girl with long black hair.

Wait…was that Declan? To be sure, I took out my phone and sent him a text message that just said hey. After I sent it, I noticed the phone in the boy's pocket light up, proving that it was Declan. So he either is a man-whore and is going out with someone after he left me or he was cheating on that girl with me these past few days. Finally, I texted him back and wrote 'Have fun with your girlfriend. Don't get burned, jerk."

I saw Declan finally reach for the phone and look at the text. I could see him roll his eyes and shut the phone. The girl looked at him in concern but he pulled her close by her waist and kissed her. What a jerk.

After they pulled out, Ironhide's giant form pulled in the theater. He pulled up to where I was and I jumped in the back seat. Up in the front, I could see Ironhide's holoform and Akila holding hands.

"Sooo, how was your date?" Akila asked with a teasing voice. Ironhide's eyebrows rose and he smiled.

"Oh shut up you two, it was NOT a date. I would NOT fall for some romantic freak like him," I assured them.

"Akila and I used to argue all the time, you know," Ironhide commented, moving his hand (which was combined with my sister's) to wave it in front of my face.

"No," I said. "No, no, NOOOO!" Akila and Ironhide were laughing at me so much and I just tried to ignore them.

I don't know what was coming next, especially with this creepy electric organs thing, but I knew that I was NEVER going to end up with Mirage.

* * *

_Soooo...like it? Yes? No?_

_I promise you, there will be NO BrookexMirage in this story EVER. While I'm at it, there will also be NO BrookexBumblebee. Mirage is just going to be some creepy stalker and Brooke and Bee are like siblings. I really don't think Brooke's final love interest will be revealed until, like, the last couple words of the final chapter or until the sequel. So yeah, also, how do you guys like Derrick also? I really like him...and you guys will be surprised at what happens with him!_

_So please R&R! Tell your friends! xD_


	15. The Shock of a Lifetime

_Okay guys, I survived my first week of high school! Woot woot! Though, my tolerance level for stupidity is quickly decreasing thanks to High School. I'm sorry I took so long, but I pretty much had practice until 5:30, homework till about 7 (If I'm lucky) and then eat and go to bed. It was a tiring week. _

_So I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter but it has a lot of important stuff in it._

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see that the temperature outside was about 50 degrees, a rare cold day for Arizona. Most of it came from wind chill but still. As I got dressed in shorts and a tee shirt, I knew I would need more than that. So, I grabbed Optimus's jacket, which still smelled of his sweet smell. He was probably still looking for it. Or he just created a new one. But still, I had to return it so he wouldn't think I stole it.

When I got out, I grabbed a banana and stuffed a couple of packs of crackers in my pocket for later. Then I called Bumblebee.

"Hey Bee, where are you?" I asked.

"In my room, in my room," harmonized voices sang.

"Well can you come to the hangar? I need to go practice my powers again," I told him. I heard him beep in agreement and I hung up. After a couple of minutes, his awesome Camaro form came driving up to me. He looked shinier than ever, surprisingly, and looked like he got an upgrade.

"Did you change something?" I asked.

"Chevy Camaro," he said, with a voice that sounded straight from a commercial. "304 horsepower, with 29 miles per gallon on the highway. It's power and efficiency in perfect harmony."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Alright, alright Mr. Modesty, let's just go," I told him. He shook with laughter and we drove off to the field. Bee told me that he had some Energon scouting to do today so I wasn't going to miss much. I think Akila and Ironhide were going to the park also.

Once I got to the field and Bumblebee left, I looked around for Derrick. Finally I found him, sunning on the side of a hill. I found it funny, since he had really dark skin and looked like he had no need to tan. "HEY DERRICK!" I screamed. Derrick jumped and shot up, his hands held out.

Then he saw me and sighed. "Holy crap Brooke, don't scare me like that," he said, grabbing his heart. I came over and sat next to him.

"I would think that someone raised in Area 51 would be….less jumpy," I suggested. Derrick just laughed at my notion.

"It's been a long time since I've seen action, kid. I've gotta get used to it," he told me. Did he just call me kid? He only had to be about 4 or 5 years older than me, right?

I jumped up. "Okey-dokey then, sifu shock-man, what are we doing today?" (A/N: Whoever can guess what that is a reference to is awesome!)

Derrick laughed again and looked at me, confused. "Sifu shock-man? Ha, okay, I'll go with it." He stood up and stretched. "Today I'm going to show you how to let the energy in your body flow to the natural world. Once you learn that, I can teach you more advanced stuff."

I ran out into the grass and looked at him for direction. He crossed his arms and smiled. "Okay, just feel the energy and force it out of you," he told me. I held my arms out and tried to feel the energy inside me. I could feel the energy centered in my core, and I squeezed to shoot it out. It soon found an exit near my arm and shot out that way. I looked at my hand to see lightening burst out of it and into the heavens above. No way.

"That's how you do it," Derrick said. "It's pretty easy, isn't it?" I nodded. We did that same exercise a couple of times, alternating arms each time. Finally, a storm started to thunder in the distance and I took a break until it came close.

When it got close, I stood up and looked at Derrick, who was smiling at the storm. "Now you get to redirect lightening," he told me. I looked at him odd. _Redirect it?_ He just laughed. "It's like producing electricity, but with this natural add-on, it can be more powerful."

I shrugged; didn't sound too hard. If I could produce lightening, who says I can't redirect it? So I went back out to the field, in the middle of a giant thundercloud. I lifted my right arm and closed my eyes, trying to will the energy of the clouds towards me. I looked just in time to see a giant shock of electricity hit my hand.

I can't really describe the feeling because you wouldn't believe me. But it was like this: It was as if I was more powerful than anyone. I felt the power at my fingertips and my eyes automatically scanned for things to hit. But I soon gained control of my thoughts and raised my left arm towards the sky, shooting the lightening out with it.

I felt so awesome. When the loud clap of thunder struck my ears, I felt invincible. I had made that. Derrick was a few feet away, clapping and cheering.

I wanted to do it again. I _could_ do it again.

_Do it again. Learn these powers_ a sinister voice rang in my head. I knew I didn't want to listen to Megatron's voice through our bond, but I actually _wanted to_.

So, I raised my arm again. Derrick went quiet and stared at me. "What are you doing?" he whispered loud enough so I could hear it.

But I continued on. I clumped even more energy than last time and sent it from the cloud to me. It almost knocked me over but I held it inside me.

The feelings increased. I felt I was better than everyone. I could single-handedly end this war with a few shots to the Decepticons. The Decepticons could all be dead, as they should be.

No, no. Don't think this way. That's Megatron forcing voices in your head. _Come on Brooke_, he taunted. _Try it. Come at me. But if you kill me, you die also._

I was being controlled. A mere pawn. I quickly tried to release the energy as the feelings increased. It was like a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde moment.

"Brooke, release it!" Derrick ordered with authority and worry laced in his voice. But I couldn't make it leave. Something was willing it to stay inside me. I shut my eyes and shook my head, a tear releasing from my eye.

I saw Derrick jump down from the hill and run towards me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and, when he did, the energy went straight to his hand. He grunted at the power and released it in the air in the greatest display of power I had ever seen.

But I didn't get to enjoy the beauty until I black out in Derrick's arms.

….

When I woke up, I was rested near the side of a tree. Derrick was in the meadow below me, shooting off bolts of electricity in rage. Sweat covered his brow and he has his shirt off. I had to admit, his six-pack came as no surprise to me. When he noticed me sitting up, he ran straight toward me. He slid to a sitting position and helped me sit up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" I asked, rubbing my head. I had a horrible throbbing in my head.

"It was too much energy for your body and for some reason it refused to be released. I suggest that, for not, you only redirect the lightening once every, say, ten minutes," he ordered, scanning me for scars. I pulled out my phone and saw it was three o'clock and I had a text message.

When I opened it, it was from the one person I never thought I would get a text message from:

My mom.

* * *

_BUMBUMBUUUUMMM! Whoooa, Brooke's mom is texting her? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?_

_Again, sorry for the shortness and the lack of Autobots, but I promise to have a longer chapter next time _

_Oh and guys, guess what? Me and my friend MarZ009j had an art/story trade and she drew some **awesome art of Ironhide and Akila!** Go check it out here: www(dot)marz009j(dot)deviantart(dot)com/#/d41ph14 _

_Songs:_  
_In My Room- The Beach Boys_


	16. Trauma

_Hey guys. SOooo sorry for the long wait. Football season started which means every Friday is taken and my only day off from practice is on Wednesdays. So yeah. Here's where we learn about Brooke's mom! So how is her coming back possible? Why? And could the final battle be coming soon? _

* * *

"How is that possible?" I screamed out in astonishment. Derrick looked at me like I was a madwoman.

"What is it?" he asked.

"My mom just texted me… but she was kidnapped about a month ago and we haven't heard anything from her," I said, studying the text closely. _Could she have escaped?_

"What does it say?"

I read it out loud, "It says 'Meet me at abandoned Home Depot on South Ortman Road. Hurry!'"

"Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm fine. I have one," I told him, furiously dialing Bumblebee's comm. link number. I waited and finally answered. "Bee! I need you and Optimus to come pick me up!" I ordered.

"What's wrong?" Bee asked, his voice sounding super worried.

"My MOM just texted me!" I yelled. I could hear Bumblebee gasp. "I know it's weird, but it has a place on the text and we should go check it out."

Bee just thought in silence for a moment, no doubt contacting Optimus. "We'll be there in a minute," he told me, and hung up. I shut off my phone and shoved it in my pocked. Derrick was standing near me, a smirk on his face.

"Bee and Optimus, huh?" he asked. "Those are some odd names."

Oh scrap. "Um, yeah, well Bee is my brother Ben, we just call him Bee. And Optimus is a nickname we gave to my friend Tim," I lied. Derrick looked like could see right through me.

Derrick and I then had an awkward conversation about our mothers while we waited for my ride. I told him about how my mom is a traveler and loves to go places. Derrick told me that he saw pictures of his mother from the Area 51 database, and remembered her bright blue eyes. He mostly was asking me about what my mother was like, since he couldn't remember his.

Finally, Bee and Optimus rolled up to the field and Bee opened his passenger door, his holoform urging me in. I looked back to say goodbye to Derrick but he was, as normal, gone. What is with him and disappearing?

I forgot it, my mind focused on my mother still. I ran up to Bumblebee and jumped into him. A seatbelt snakes around me and we bolted off. I didn't think Optimus could drive that fast, considering all of the momentum he had with his form. I told Bumblebee the address which was on the text and he quickly sped up to be in front of Optimus. Optimus allowed him to and followed behind. I must say, it was a little odd to see Optimus actually following and not leading.

"So when did you get the text?" Bee finally asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know… thirty minutes ago, maybe?"

"Was it during your practice?" I shook my head no. No need to tell Bee that I was knocked out about a minute prior to the text. "So how are you going with your powers?" he asked. He obviously was as nervous as I was about finding my mom. If she really was there, Akila and I would leave once our mom was back to normal. As far as staying, my powers were the only thing that would keep us at the base.

"Yeah, they're getting a lot better. I learned how to redirect lightening today," I told him.

Bee smiled and turned to me. Developing my powers equals good for my chances of staying. "Hey," he noted. "Why are you wearing Optimus's jacket?"

I blushed. "Be let me borrow it yesterday. I need to give it back to him," I said, taking in one last whiff of his sweet-smelling jacket.

Bumblebee laughed. "I'm sure he won't mind you borrowing it," he teased at my blush.

I hit him in the shoulder. "You're a jerk, you know that," I told him, covering my blush. Bumblebee just laughed and we continued to drive on.

Finally, we arrived at this old, abandoned Home Depot in the middle of no where. It was run down: the paint on the sides was chipping off and the 'Home Depot' sign was fading. In a dark corner was what I recognized as my mom.

I jumped out of Bee and started running toward her. She looked at me and had hope in her eyes. But suddenly, two strong arms wrapped around me. My mother's look got scared. I looked up to see Optimus's holoform's arms around me, his eyes looking hardly at my mother. I blushed for a moment then looked up at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked impatiently.

"It could be a trap," he told me. Finally he let me go and I didn't move as he walked towards my mom. "Ms. Walters?" he asked. My mom didn't move. She had deep fear in her eyes. "My name is Optimus Prime, I am the leader of the Autobots. Your daughters have been staying on our base since you have been gone," he explained. She looked over at me and I smiled and nodded to him, showing that he could be trusted. I actually don't know who I trust more than Optimus.

"You can call me Ashley," she stuttered out. Her voice was strained and abused. It felt horrible hearing that.

"Well then, Ashley, why don't you come with us?" Optimus asked, outstretching a hand. Mom took his hand and Optimus helped her up. He helped her limp over towards me and I gave her a huge hug. Mom was shocked for a moment but hugged me back. After the hug was over I turned to Bumblebee's holoform, who was leaning against his vehicle form with crossed arms.

"Mom," I said. She looked at me. "I'd like you to meet someone." I led her over to where Bumblebee was and he lifted up. "Mom, this is Bumblebee. He's my guardian," I told her. My mom studied him for a minute before giving him a big hug, to which he looked very uncomfortable. I chuckled and heard Optimus chuckle behind me.

"Thank you for keeping my little girl safe," she told him. Weird; she had never called me 'her little girl' since I was about five. Oh well, I guess she was just being sentimental since she hadn't seen me in a while.

So after the hug was over, mom and I climbed in Bee and we all left to go back to the NEST base. Once we got there, it was straight to the med bay for my mom. Akila was hurrying back to the base from a date with Ironhide.

When we got to the med bay, Ratchet immediately began a scan on my mom. He ran 2, 3, 4 scans on her and, with each one, all he said was 'hm'.

At last, Ratchet pulled everyone outside while my mom fell asleep from the drugs Ratchet gave her. We watched as Akila rolled up in Ironhide and they both came up. "So what's wrong with her?" Akila frantically wondered.

"Relax, she's fine physically. Just a few scratches and scars. But the emotional trauma that Megatron gave her is very extensive," he told us. "I believe you humans call it 'posttraumatic stress disorder'?"

"Okay, so, what can we do to help her?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Ratchet sighed. "We will supply her with some anti-depressant medication for now. Two to three times every seven rotations, either Akila or yourself have to go and talk to her about the experience, to both calm her and provide us information. But for now, all Autobots should be with holoforms around her until she is unafraid of our species anymore," he explained.

"Seems easy enough," Ironhide said from behind Akila.

And Ironhide was right. For months it went on like that, with Akila visiting mom on Tuesdays and me on Thursdays to talk to her about what happened. Sometimes Ironhide accompanied Akila and Bee came with me. The stories she told us were just so….scary. She told us of the torturous punishment they put her through, some that they learns on other barbaric planets. She said that she never told them anything about us, which made me pretty proud.

Besides that, things went on very normal. The Decepticon activity was almost none, which was very surprising. Optimus believes that the Decepticons are just getting ready to mount a very large attack, whereas Ironhide believes that those 'punk-ass Decepticons' are just 'crawling back in their hole because they lost their leverage'.

Also, Mikaela's baby bump was growing bigger and bigger. It was January, and she was supposed to have the baby in June. They found out that the baby was going to be a boy, and wouldn't tell anyone their plans for the name. Also Ironhide and Akila were still going strong. And little old me was still single, but I'm ok with it.

So everything was somewhat peaceful…But you know it's not gonna stay that way.

P.S. I still have Optimus's jacket ;)

* * *

_Well, there it is guys! You liiiike? I was going to give Sam a girl, but we need some more human guys in this story. I mean, the only one besides Sam is Derrick and Declan so yeah. I don't know when I'm going to update again since I'll be busy again. I have exhibition on Tuesday, and I have to do this toss that I cannot do to save my life (a 45 for all my Guard readers) so yeah; wish me luck!_

_Oh, and no one got my reference from the last chapter! 'Sifu Shock-man' is from Avatar: The Last Airbender, where Aang calls Zuko 'Sifu Hot-man'. Haha, NO COOKIES FOR YOU!_

_R&R please!_


	17. Happy Birthday NOT

_So guys, sorry I haven't updated recently. I thought I should do a little birthday chapter for Brooke since **my birthday is this Friday**! Whooot whoot! Plus I wrote it because it provides a good transition into the closer of our story. yes, the close (Boo-Hoo). But don't fret! The sequel is already planned so you'll be sure of more! Oh whatever, just get on with the show!_

* * *

January 25, the best day the world has ever had. Why, you ask? Because it's the day I was born on, of course!

I never really liked to make a big deal about my birthday. In fact, I really wished people would forget it. But since this was my first birthday on base, I was super excited. How did the Autobots celebrate birthdays? How would their traditions differ from ours?

But I guess their traditions were kind of similar, for I woke up to a hot plate of pancakes next to my bed with a Starbucks coffee cup to the right. I saw up and rubbed my eyes to make sure this wasn't a dream. And it wasn't! It was actual food that didn't taste like rubber!

The second best thing? My alarm clock said 10:30, which meant that Akila actually let me sleep in past 8. Of course, I had to wake up early for lessons with Derrick, but he told me that I could take my birthday off. Plus I was really advancing, so it didn't put us back that much.

As I started to devour the food and coffee, Akila walked in the quarters. "Hope you like that; Starbucks is getting quite expensive now a days," she said.

"This is amazing! Thanks Akila!" I managed to somehow say in between bites.

Akila laughed. "This isn't it all. This year we're throwing a real party," she said. I remember how she used to always make a big deal about her birthday and tried to make one out of mine, but I wouldn't let her. This year I guess it's different since we're in a permanent place and we're with the Autobots.

So after I ate and got dressed for the day, I went out to the hanger. Of course, a yellow Camaro was waiting for me. When I got down the stairs, the driver door opened and Bumblebee's holoform jumped out. He ran up to me and gave me a huge hug.

"_Happy birthday to you_," he sang from the radio.

I laughed. "Thanks Bee. I thought you had patrol duty today?" I asked him.

Bee pulled away and smiled a broad smile. "I took off and Optimus let me," he said. "So where would you like to go?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I want some new clothes but I don't have that much money…"

"Relax," Bumblebee assured, "The government gives us plenty of money. Let's go!" I smiled and jumped in the passenger door of his alt form.

Bee took off, driving through back roads to get to the mall. It was a Wednesday, and during school/work hours, so the mall wasn't that crowded. The mall was pretty big, with two separate parking decks on either side of the area. Bee was sure to park on the top level of the deck, for he had a little fear of the concrete parking lot caving in on him. And I had to admit, it was a fear of mine too.

So we went to the mall and had a blast. I dragged Bumblebee into clothing stores like Abecrombie and Charming Charlie's, which gave him an opportunity to update his holoform's looks. I got a lot of shirts and skinny jeans, which made me very happy. Plus we stopped by the CD store and I got a couple of new CDs.

We also had a lot of 'trivial' fun, as Ratchet would put it. I dragged Bumblebee into a photo booth and we were able to both get a strip of four silly photos. Then I took him to this machine that was a 'Hurricane Simulator', which was a little vortex area where it blows 60 mph wings on you. My hair was going everywhere and Bumblebee thought that the machine was the coolest thing he'd ever seen.

After the shopping trip, we went back to the base. Of course, I was not expecting Bumblebee to cover my eyes with his holoform's hands. I was blindingly following him throughout the base, and I couldn't hear anyone talking. It was as if everyone had disappeared.

Finally, he let me see and I saw that I was in the mess hall. Only, it wasn't as boring as normal. It was decorated with various reds and pinks, with a giant sign that said 'Happy Birthday Brooke!'. All of the Autobot's holoforms were there, along with Akila, Sam, and Mikaela. I smiled as I noticed the cookie cake and the pile of presents on the floor.

"Happy birthday!" They all cried out.

I smiled broadly. "Oh my gosh! This is awesome!" was all I could say. Akila was beaming; she loved birthday parties.

Soon the party commenced and music from a local pop radio station started playing. I went around and said hello to everyone, and they directed to me to their presents for me to open.

Sam and Mikaela got me a camera since my old one was crushed along with my old house. I thanked them and asked how the baby was doing, and they told me that he was doing fine and still due in five months.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe got together to get me a paintball gun, one that would provide very useful for our future pranks. Ratchet looked like he was going to have a Spark-attack when I opened it. Skids and Mudflap bought me the complete season of 'Jersey Shore', a show I want to destroy. I really think it was just a way to watch the show while avoiding Optimus, for Skids said "You're gonna have ta let us borrow dat sometime, kay?" as soon as I opened it.

Mirage got me a rose bouquet. I reminded him once again that we would NEVER be together, but he just winked and said "That won't-a stop-a from trying." Ugh, I guess mechs will be mechs.

Ironhide and Akila came together and got me a pair of earrings and a $10 iTunes gift card. They also really helped set the party up, so their gift was amazing.

Ratchet got me a Dr. Mario game. Though it seemed kinda typical for the medic, he also added that he would help me study for I could take the test to get my License. Que got me Operation: Spongebob Edition. While both sets of twins snickered, I realized that Que didn't really get the concept of human age as compared to Cybertronians, so I just smiled and thanked him.

Finally, it was the last one: Optimus. All the gift boxes on the table were gone, so I turned to talk to him. All the others were either talking amongst themselves or dancing, so we were alone.

"So I suppose you want a gift?" he said with a cocky smile.

I blushed. "Well, no, it's ok if you didn't get me anything," I told him. I was really fine with it. It's just….I was kinda interested to see what Optimus gave me.

But Optimus laughed and handed me a velvet box. I stared at it. Was it a ring? Finally I opened it and saw this beautiful necklace and at the bottoms was a small, shiny red Autobot symbol.

"Oh Optimus, it's beautiful," I breathed, looking at it. It shone as if it was a crystal that had just been buffed.

Optimus smiled. "I'm glad you like it. It used to belong to a… friend of mine, then she gave it to me. I thought you would like it."

I nodded and hugged his tightly. Optimus chucked and helped me put the necklace around my neck. It fit just perfectly.

"Thank you so much. I love it," I told him.

Optimus leaned down to my ear-level. "I was going to get you a jacket, but I see you don't need one," he breathed. I shivered at the sound of his soft voice in my ear.

Then I realized what he said and looked down to see that I was wearing the jacket I 'borrowed' from him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Every time I tried to give it back I got distracted," I said, starting to slip it off.

But Optimus grabbed the jacket and put it back on me. "You keep it, I'll be fine. Besides, it looks better on you then on me," he said. I turned bright red at this.

Before I could reply, Akila tore me to the cake where I blew out the candles and made a wish. My wish was that the world would stay like this forever: all my friends and family together and the Decepticons missing. It was amazing.

Wait…speaking of family…

I started to look around and realized that my mom was no where to be found. Was she in her room? She had been coped up in her room recently, so maybe did she forget the date? She seemed to be rehabilitating, and she couldn't possibly have something happen to her, could she?

So while everyone was getting cake and the Autobots were celebrating with some High-Grade Energon (None for either sets of Twins, of course), I snuck out and ran to my moms quarters.

"Mom? Are you in there?" I asked, lightly knocking on the door. There was no reply, so I typed in the code and entered the quarters. The room was dark but the communications room (Her room used to be Major Lennox's quarters until he moved closer to the base) was glowing dimly.

I slowly and very quietly walked around to the room and poked my head in. There was my mother, leaning up against the controls.

"I'm telling you, Lord Megatron, now is not the time to strike! All of the soldiers are here and the girl is with the Autobots!" she cried out. I looked up at the monitor and had to cover my mouth so I didn't make a noise. My mom was talking to _Megatron_.

"Stand down number 2586. Starscream and the other Seekers have already approached the Autobot base with a cloaking device. They are ready to strike on my call. Now get the child in your possession and prepare to retreat!" Megatron ordered.

Was…Was my mom working for Megatron? No…He called her number 2586…She couldn't be…Could she?

I started to slowly sneak out and warn the Autobots when suddenly two hands grabbed my wrist and wrestled me to the ground. I show electricity out from my wrists but it still caught me. When I looked up, my 'mom' was looking down at me with a devilish smile.

"Can't let you go tell your friend, now can we youngling?" she…it growled. It then pulled me up, trapped my hands behind my back, and sent me into the communication room. When Megatron saw me, he smiled.

"Ah, youngling. It is good to see you after so long," he taunted.

"Oh yeah, well, how's your ship, slagger?" I asked him, struggling against number 2596's grip.

Megatron chuckled. "Come now, femme. Let's make this as easy as it can me. It is your Creation Day, after all," he said.

"I don't know what you're planning," I said, "But it won't work. Optimus will defeat you."

"Not if he's blown into bits he won't!" Megatron yelled, adding an evil chuckle at the end.

I had to get out of here and warn them. If the Seekers hit the Mess Hall, everyone would die; the Twins, Bumblebee, Mikaela, Sam, Ironhide, Akila, Optimus…Everyone.

Number 2596 had to had a weakness, and Megatron knew it. _"You are bonded to him, Brooke. Use the bond he forced onto you to your advantage. Feel what he is planning," _the voice of the Prime rang in my head.

I closed my eyes and felt the one thing that connected Megatron to me. I could feel the Spark in his chassis glowing and his memory systems sparking. I looked in his memory systems for anything on number 2596.

Megatron must have sensed what was going on, for he was grabbing his head and yelling, "Get out of my processor!"

But I kept going and finally I found it: There was an emergency turn-off button in its 'hip'. Since it was distracted with Megatron, released my hips and shot the drone in the hip with my electricity. It fell straight to the floor and I ran out of the quarters before Megatron could get out of his disorientation.

I ran as fast as I could to the Mess Hall. Once there, I pushed the door open and yelled, "Get out of the Mess Hall!"

The Autobots grabbed the humans, shoved them in their alt forms, and drove out of the hall. Bumblebee somehow managed to grab me when he drove by. Right when the last mech, Que, got out of the Mess Hall, it blew up. The humans got out of the Autobots and they transformed, ready for battle.

The Seekers flew over and dropped a hologram. When it landed, the form of Megatron projected itself. "Ah Autobots, I see you were able to evade your deaths…for now. But now I know where your base is, and my spy was able to get the information on the location of all your human companions. Return the girl to me and have their lives spared," he said. Me?

"Come on Optimus," Megatron taunted. I looked up at Optimus to see the mech with his battle mask on and his eyes hard. "She's just one girl. Isn't one girl an essential sacrifice for the lives of hundreds?"

Before Megatron could say more, Optimus shot the hologram.

"What are we gonna do, Prime?" Ironhide asked.

Optimus was silent. "We still have the data that Megatron copied. We have to get those people to safety. Also get the troops together. If it is a fight Megatron wants, he's got it," he finally said. His voice was not the same soft one he used earlier; this one was hard and filled with leadership.

Everyone left to do their duties. Ironhide went with Akila to get her things and the Twins went with Sam and Mikaela. Once everyone except for Optimus, Bumblebee, and I had left, I turned to Optimus.

"What's gonna happen to me?" I asked.

Optimus kneeled down to get eye level with me. "You are my main priority for now, youngling. You posses special powers that, if falling into Megatron's claws, could destroy everything. You have to get to safety," he said.

I nodded. Optimus then stood up and left. Bee walked up to me and said, "We should get your things."

"No," I said. "I have to go see someone first."

* * *

_Soooo, who is this someone, hm? What are your guesses? R&R!_


	18. The Truth Comes Out

_Hey guys! Wow, I took a while to update, huh? Yeah, well, Marching Band season is over, so many of you may thing 'Yeah! Faster updates!' Haha, you wish! It's Winter Guard time!  
So anyways, the story is winding to the end and this chapter may be short, but it has some MAJOR plot twists!_

* * *

Bumblebee drove to straight to the field where I spent most of the year learning how to use my power. I jumped out of him and ran to the spot where I always found Derrick.

"Derrick! Derrick, I need you!" I cried out. No sign of Derrick. "Derrick!" I yelled even louder.

"Geez, girl," I heard. Then coming from between the trees was Derrick, who was yawning and rubbing his eyes. "I was taking a nap."

"There's no time for that! This is an emergency!" I yelled.

"What's wrong?" Derrick asked.

"Look, I live with people called Autobots. They're a robot race from the planet Cybertron. The Decepticons, who are evil Cybertronians, want to capture me and use my power to take over the world. You need to help us!" I yelled. Wow, that just totally summed up the biggest government secret ever.

Derrick froze. "I-I can't help you, Brooke. I'm sorry," he said.

I froze. Did he just say...no? He said no to saving the world. "What? Come on Derrick! The world is at stake here and you're gonna just sit in the field? When we, *I*, need you? This is your world too, so if we don't win you don't either! I thought you loved to fight!" I yelled.

I tried to continue on but then Derrick wrapped his arms around me. By now, tears of fury were forming around my eyes and I looked up at him.

"Listen girl, it's not that I don't want to help you, I do. It's just that I can't," he explained. I was about to say that Area 51 would understand if he left the area, but he put a finger to my lips. "Shh, you don't understand. Follow me."

Derrick let me go and I walked behind him. We walked for a while, and I started to wonder how freaked out Optimus was since I was gone.

Finally, we came across an area with what looked like a large rock and some flowers. Derrick stopped. "Go on," he said. I looked at him and continued on.

After I got closer, I realized that the rock had something engraved on it. It said, 'R.I.P. Jolt. May you continue to electrify the people you meet, even when you are with Primus.'

I remembered the stories of Jolt, who was the only Autobot to ever harness the electric power (besides me, if I count).

"Do you understand why I can't leave?" Derrick asked. I turned around and he was right behind me. But I still didn't get it.

"I am Jolt, Brooke. My holoform projector still was functioning and Primus gave me a chance to help you. Now you are ready, and I have to go," Derrick, or Jolt, smiled and hugged me again.

Why did he have to leave? Sure, he did die, but he was so amazing and helped out so much. Tears pricked my eyes.

"Hey girl, don't cry," he said with a chuckle.

"I...I don't want you to leave," I told him. By now the tears were coming down.

"Listen, I may not be here physically, but remember I'm always with you, ok?"

I nodded. Then, when I looked down, he was startig to disappear. "No! Derr- Jolt, don't leave me yet!" I screamed.

Jolt smiled and wiped away one of my tears. "Hey now, stop crying. You need to be strong to defeat Megatron, alright?"

He grabbed one flower from the flowers on his grave and put it in my hair. He then kissed my cheek and then he was gone.

So I slowly walked back to Bumblebee where his holoform was leaning against his alt form, looking annoyed. Once he saw me, he looked relieved.

"Thank Primus you're back, Optimus is freaking out," he said. I walked straight past him and into the passenger seat. Bumblebee rolled down my window and leaned by me.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" he asked me.

I sighed. "I'll tell you later. Can we just get back to base before Optimus has a spark attack?" I snapped. Bumblebee looked hurt but started to drive.

The car ride was in silence but when we finally got to base, it was chaos. Families of various military recruits were been put into safe underground hideouts while the recruits were getting ready for a large battle.

It shouldn't be like this. Megatron wanted me, why should these people die for ME?

When I got out of Bumblebee, I noticed Akila arguing with Ironhide. "I can help Ironhide, why won't you let me?" Akila yelled.

Ironhide gruffed. "One, you are not trained enough, and two, I am NOT losing you," he said.

"You trained me how to shoot a gun and take down a Decepticon! What more training do you want?" she retorted.

I ignored their arguement and went straight to my quarters, where I put the flower Jolt gave me into a vase.

"Brooke, are you in here?" Optimus's voice called from outside of my room.

"Yeah, I'm here," I told him in a flat tone.

"May I come in?" he asked. I had to give it to him, at least he had the curtosy to ask.

"Sure." Optimus's holoform walked in to the room and sat next to me on my bed.

"Bumblebee said something was wrong with you," he told me. Then he noticed the flower. I could sense his familiarity with it.

"Have you seen...Jolt's grave?" Optimus asked.

"Who do you think taught me my powers?" I told him. Optimus froze. "Of course, I knew him as Derrick then..."

"Jolt taught you?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just learned he was Jolt a few hours ago. Primus gave him a second chance to teach me, and now he's gone," I explained.

Optimus nodded. "Primus is so mysterious," he reflected. "Anyway, Brooke, I'm here to take you to the bunker with the others until this is over with."

My eyes widened. WHAT? This was all because of me and I can't help?

Optimus saw how freaked out I was and put a hand on my shoulder. "Please don't argue Brooke. I don't want you to get hurt. You...mean a lot to me," he said.

His face got closer. "I want to help, Optimus," I whispered.

"I know," he whispered back. We got closer until finally, I tilted my head and our lips met. Sparks flew and the kiss felt magical. I'd kissed Declan and Jolt kissed me on the cheek, but neither felt like this. This...fit.

Optimus pulled away. "We're leaving in an hour, so be ready to get in the bunker," he said.

I made a suprised face. "What? You little flirt! You just persuaded me by seduction," I cried.

Optimus smiled and left the room.

Great. My friend died, I learned that I can't fight, and I kissed Optimus all in one day. A day in the life of me, I guess.

* * *

_So guys, what's your favorite Brooke pairing? BrookexDeclan, BrookexBee, or BrookexOptimus? Tell me in your reviews!_


	19. Sneaking Out

_Hey guys, I'm SOOO sorry for the shortness. Part of it was family problems, Christmas, lack of inspiration, me falling in love with Spock from Star Trek, and just plain laziness. But I figured that this was better than nothing, so yeah. Plus I'm missing that awesome feeling when I look at me email and see that I got a review. _

_Oh, and if you haven't heard, I wrote 'What It Takes To Be a Christmas Hero' so go check it out for some major IronhidexAkila!_

* * *

As I packed my things up to go to the bunker when I thought, '_Why are my friends going to stop something caused by me? Why am I forced to be shoved in a bunker?'_

I slid Optimus's jacket around me and thought about everything he's done for me: saved me from Barricade and Starscream, picked me up when it started raining, and he kissed me. I couldn't have him fight Megatron.

'_Megatron, are you there?' _I asked, trying to use out bond.

I heard laughter on the other side. _'Well hello little femme, how can I be of assistance?'_ Megatron asked.

I resisted the urge to spit an insult at him and said, _'Look, I don't want my friends to be hurt, alright? Where can I meet you?'_

'_The real question is: How are you going to get off of the Autobot base, hm? Prime and that scout would never let you off.'_

He did have a point: If Optimus, Bumblebee, or any of the Autobots saw me trying to leave the base, they would take me back and lock me in the bunker. But then I remembered how Declan and I snuck around in the Decepticon ship unnoticed (Well, for the most part anyway). Perhaps, if she was fast enough, then she could get out.

'_You meet me at the gas station on Montgomery Road and I'll worry about getting out, ok?' _I told him. Megatron laughed and closed communications.

I looked around for way to escape and come up with none. None, that is, except for the air vent on the roof over my bed. It would be a squeeze, but I could do it.

So I jumped on top of my bed and gently slid the vent cover off. Climbing up was difficult, but I somehow managed to slide my body into an army crawling position and I was on my way. I went by various quarters where I heard soldiers discussing the various reasons why they were nervous. Many were new and had never fought a Decepticon before.

Then I slid over to the conference room where all of the Autobots were talking. I was going slowly and quietly until someone said, "Don't worry, she'll be fine in the bunker." I stopped and looked to see that, below me, Ratchet and Optimus were trying to console Bumblebee.

"She will be perfectly safe here Bumblebee. You will still have time to take her to Las Vegas like you planned," Optimus said with a smile. No way, how did Bee know that I always wanted to go to Las Vegas?

"One short day, in the Emerald City. One short day, oh there's so much to do! Everywhere that you look in the city, there's something exquisite for one to visit before the day's through!" Bumblebee sang, causing the older mechs to chuckle.

Ratchet then took Bumblebee away for a weapons upgrade. Optimus began to follow when he froze and looked up to exactly where Brooke was in the vent. Brooke froze and held her breath as the mech's eyes studied the vent. He then shrugged and followed to where Ratchet led Bumblebee.

I sighed in relieve and continued my way through the vents. Finally I found a vent that opened to the outside and I kicked it open and slid out. I checked my watch: 7:42. Someone would be coming in my room soon to move me to the bunker. So I started to run out in the open until I came upon a dirt road and followed it to a deserted gas station where Megatron and I were to meet.

At the gas station was a large army hummer. "Way to be inconspicuous," I said. A tall man stepped out of the driver's door, and he looked a lot like Optimus, except for the fact that his hair was a dark gray and he wore all black. He also had a scar over his eye.

"I don't care about hiding from your people, femme. Now let's go," Megatron growled and threw me into his alt form. A seat belt wrapped around me tightly and held me in place. Megatron peeled out of the gas station and zoomed down the road, picking up dirt as he went.

"So, ok, you have me, now what?" I asked him.

Megatron chuckled and petted my heard. "You'll see soon, my pet."

We drove far until we finally came upon a large piece of desert where the Decepticon ship was waiting. Megatron drove in and the ship began to take off. I was thrown out of the hummer while Megatron transformed. He grabbed me in his hand and l was thrown in a room and it was locked.

"Oww, my head," I groaned.

"Brooke?" I jumped up and raised my fists, ready for whatever came at me. But then my eyes adjusted and I saw my mother, her body covered in bruises and cuts.

"Mom!" I yelled, and hugged her. "What happened to you? What the frag did Megatron do to you?"

My mother smiled, showing off the bags under her eyes. "Nothing you need to worry about sweetheart. How did you get here?" she demanded to know.

"Megatron was going to put a lot of people in danger just to get me…so I gave myself up. I think the Autobots should be finding out now…," I told her. I could only imaging the sad look of Bumblebee's face when he sees that I'm gone.

"Why did you do that, Brooke? The Autobots could handle it! Megatron said that he needed a piece of the Matrix inside of you… Who knows what he could be using you for!" my mother scolded me. Well, she's back to normal.

We stayed in the prison for a while and chatted about all things. My mom almost died when she heard that 2 boys kissed me and she wasn't there. But our conversation didn't last long, for soon the door opened and Megatron came, grabbed me, and dragged me to the control room.

In the control room, I could see a perfect view of the moon, for we were only a couple hundred feet from it.

"So what do I have to do with the moon?" I asked.

Megatron pointed and asked, "Do you see that?" I squinted to look and, as the moon rotated, I could finally see it: A large crashed ship. And it wasn't from Earth.

"In that ship is Sentinel Prime's ship, and he has a deal with us that he needs to complete," Megatron explained. My eyes widened: Sentinel Prime, the man who taught Optimus, had made a deal with Decepticons? "Sadly, despite his…near perfect landing, he was killed. And only one thing can save him."

"The Matrix," I whispered, and it clicked. Megatron was going to use my power to revive Sentinel and it would most likely kill me. And Sentinel was a genius, so if he made a deal with the Decepticons, than it CAN'T be good for the Autobots.

Oh what am I going to do?

* * *

_R&R Please!_

_Songs used:_  
_One Short Day – Wicked (Musical)_


	20. Revival

_Guys, I'm such a mean author. I mean really, I leave you guys with a cliffy and don't update for weeks. School's been crazy with Winter Guard and registration. But luckily I got back from my trip to Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras and see my family, so I wrote on the way to and from there. And guys, guess who got to meet Troy Landry from Swamp People? MEEE! Yeah, it was awesome._

_P.S. This is the official **last** chapter of 'What It Takes To Be A Hero'! But **worry not**, for there will be an epilogue and a sequel, plus I was thinking of a sister story earlier today...yeah. ok, read on!_

* * *

My mom tried to cheer me up as I sat in my cell, but how could she? I was sitting here, thinking about how Megatron would use me to revive Sentinel, and both I and my soul will die. Plus if Sentinel was revived, the world would be in jeopardy.

"Don't worry baby, the Autobots will be here soon," mom tried to assure me.

I wish I could believe her. The ship was up in space, they had all of their defenses ready for an Autobot attack. There was no way the Autobots could get to the ship. It was all up to me.

"It'll all be okay. Don't worry about a thing."

"Mom! Stop!" I finally snapped. "We're up in space, and there's no way the Autobots can get here undetected. We're on our own and, mostly, _I'm_ on my own to solve this mess!"

My mom looked at, not moving an inch. She wasn't surprised or hurt from my actions. Instead, she just smiled at me. "You've grown up so much…but you're so pessimistic! If I learned anything from my time here, it's one thing: there's always going to get better," she said.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and used the rubber band on my wrist to tie my hair back. "Mom, I have to fight Megatron with just my electricity powers. Unless I can unlock some power, then he's going to win!" I yelled. Oh, if only Jolt were here…

"If only I were…" a voice said. I jumped up and looked in the darkness. In the corner was a glowing image of Jolt in his Cybertronian form.

"Jolt! You're here!" I yelled. I ran up to him and hugged his leg. For once, I had hope! "Mom, this is Jolt, an Autobot. He taught me how to use my electricity powers," I introduced. The two greeted each other.

"So, about that unlocked power…I think I know what you could do, but it has some lethal effects," Jolt explained.

"What?"

"Back when I was just training, my teacher would tell stories of this super ancient Prime, who connected with the Matrix and used a power to defeat an evil spirit. But it took the Prime's life also. I'm sure you could access the power, if you look deep within yourself," Jolt told me.

I would die? Well, either way, I would die. But if Megatron used me, the Decepticons would win, and if I used the power, the Autobots would. I could destroy the ship and Sentinel in the process.

"How do I connect with the Matrix?" I asked.

My mom stood up. "You can't be serious Brooke!" she retorted.

"What other choice do I have?" I asked. "I can't fight Megatron without using the Matrix, and I can't save the world without getting rid of him! I have to mom!" I turned back to Jolt. "What do I have to do?"

"Ask it to help you."

I felt inside of myself. '_Oh great Matrix, please aid me in my quest to destroy Megatron and Sentinel Prime'_ I asked it.

'_And why? Why should I help you destroy my previous owner?'_ a powerful voice asked. I jumped a little bit at the fact that it was responding.

'_Sentinel did something that was dishonorable to the Autobots and could destroy us. I need to use your power and destroy him and save Earth. Please, I beg you great Matrix!'_

There was a silence. '_I am only a part of the Matrix, but….I will lend you whatever power I can, wielder' _it told me. I smiled.

"It's going to help me. I just need to wait for the perfect moment to use it," I stated.

Jolt put a hand on my shoulder. "You'll know when it's time. I promise. You'll be fine Brooke," he said. I smiled at him. Even if I die, at least I can see Jolt and watch over my loved ones. I hugged Jolt's leg. I held on for a second, before he disappeared.

"Baby, please don't do this. I can't see you die!" mom yelled.

I ignored her and looked out the tiny window we had. The moon was getting closer. It was almost time.

The door slid open and Megatron walked in. "Are you ready, pet?" he asked. I looked at mom then nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I told him. Megatron grabbed me and began to walk out. I heard my mother's cries far behind me.

Megatron led me to the control bridge and sat me down on a panel. "How long until we get to the moon?" he asked.

"Very soon, my lord. Very soon, we will win the war," Starscream responded.

Megatron smiled. "Perfect. Everything is going as planned. And the Autobots?" he asked.

"No sign of them, sir."

Great. So I really AM on my own!

'_Is it time yet? He's not looking,'_ I asked the Matrix.

'_Not yet, young one. You want to destroy Sentinel also, correct?' _it asked.

'_Well yeah…you're right,'_ I admitted. I could almost feel what felt like a smirk from the Matrix. Could a Matrix smirk?

"Starscream, prepare the girl for space travel. I grow wary of her presence in the control room," Megatron ordered.

Starscream grabbed me (Why do they always grab? The Autobots never grabbed…) and pulled me into another room, where he threw a teen-sized space suit at me. "So who'd you kill to get this?" I asked.

Starscream sneered and said, "The less you know, human. The less you know."

I slid the suit over my clothes and walked to the control room. I'm surprised Starscream even let me walk, but considering all the bruises on my body, I was a bit thankful.

The ship was landing on the moon when I reached the control center. Megatron put me in his palm and we exited the ship, Starscream following behind us. All a part of the plan.

Megatron walked easily to the large ship stuck on the moon. I started to float away a bit but Megatron held on to me. We got closer to the ship and finally we walked inside.

The inside was huge; there were some buttons that were even bigger than me! Some wires hung from the ceiling and various cracked screens and broken glass littered the floor.

"You're unusually silent and compliant human. Is it out of awe or sheer fear?" Megatron asked.

I looked into his deep red eyes and, for a second, saw a little flirtatious look. I started to smile but then stopped myself. "Awe, of what the Autobots have created," I answered with rebellion in my eyes.

"And what will soon belong to the Decepticons!" Starscream screamed from behind.

'_That's what you think,_' I thought.

We went through various halls until we got to a large room. On what looked like a chair was a large faded orange Cybertronian.

"Sentinel Prime," I whispered. This was the man, er, bot. For Cybertronian standards, he looked like a grandfather, with facial plates that looked like a moustache.

Megatron edged closer to the Autobot. "Finally, it is time to renew our deal. I thank you for your sacrifice, Brooke," he told me. I shuddered. That was the first time he ever said my name and it felt horrible.

'_It's time,_' the Matrix said.

'_I'm ready. Let's go,_' I told it. "Goodbye Megatron, Starscream. Have a good time rotting in Hell," I told them.

Megatron smiled evilly. "I will have a good time running your Earth, human. Now, let's get this done," he said. He edged me closer. Suddenly, I felt a power pull up in my chest.

The light around the room brightened as I fell into the darkness.


	21. All's Well That Ends Well

_Well guys, here we go. Last chapter! Does Brooke survive? Let's find out!_

* * *

"Wake up, brave one."

Was I dead? I remember being on Sentinel's ship and it fading to black. Now I was in a bright green meadow with a burning sun up above. In front of me were the Primes who I met before.

"Am I dead?" I asked them.

"Almost," one answered. "You are in the world between life and afterlife, a place where the Primes reside and guide lost souls on their voyage to Primus."

"Then why am I here? Are you going to guide me to Primus?"

Another Prime stepped forward. "You carry a piece of the Matrix inside of you. As unique as it is, it is true. And only Primes can carry the Matrix to lead," he explained.

Was it true, what he was saying? Was I really…a Prime? The first human Prime? The first female Prime? Me?

"You have earned the title, young one. Henceforth, your Primal name will be Virimus Prime," he told me.

Virimus…that's my new name. How could I, a simple 16-year-old girl, be a Prime? It was impossible!

"I-I don't deserve this," I told them. "I didn't do anything, I just tried not to be killed!"

"And you also harnessed the power of the Matrix in the process. And you, a mere human, single-handedly used that power to defeat the Decepticon leader and your enemies," the Prime explained.

Before I could retort the first Prime that spoke interrupted, "It is your choice Virimus. You can stay here and unlock more of your Primal powers, or you can return to Earth."

That was a tough choice. Stay here, and uncover the secrets of Cybertron and gain more knowlage from the Primes? Or go back to Earth where my sister and all of the Autobots were waiting for me?

Then it when it struck me: the man I loved was on Earth, most likely worried sick about me. I wanted to be with him. My heart longed for that kiss he left me with.

"I wish to go back to Earth please," I said. "But can you assure me one thing?" The Primes looked at me oddly and nodded. "Can you please make sure my mother is okay when I get back?"

The Primes nodded to each other. "It will be done," one said.

"Good luck Virimus Prime, and may Primus be with you," the leader said. I nodded and soon I was fading to black again.

When I woke up, I was in a very familiar med bay. No one was here, and the moon shone in the window opposite of me. Hey must have all gone to sleep. In a bed next to me was my sleeping mother. And, in this light, I could fully see the damages from living on Megatron's ship: bruises everywhere, some burns, her hair was frazzled, and she had lost a lot of weight. But a lot of the scars I found were on the path to recovery and a large meal was sitting on the table next to her.

I slid out of bed and walked to the door. The base was clear save for a few patrols. Then I saw it: the door to Optimus's quarters. I ran through the hangar towards it and the patrols, too shocked that I was alive, let me go.

I ran into his room and there he was. He must had been too tired to transform out of his alt form, for inside was a large Peterbilt with the holoform I was so familiar with resting on the roof.

"Optimus?" I called. "Optimus, wake up!"

At that moment the man sitting on top of his alt form sat up and looked down.

"Brooke?" he asked in amazement. He jumped straight down and hugged the girl tightly.

"I thought you were dead," he whispered.

I smiled and said, "I thought I was too. They gave me a choice to come back...and I did. They also...well, let's just say that my new name is Virimus Prime."

Optimus's eyes widened. "You're a Prime now? The first human Prime?" he asked.

I nuzzled into him. "It's a long story," I said.

"I've got all the time in the world."

"Come on, we have to go tell everyone that I'm alive," I told him.

Optimus smiled and took my hand as we walked out of his quarters. "Have we got so much to tell you…"

* * *

_So there's the ending guys. I know it's short, but that's so the sequel can be just more awesome, ya know? So, P.S. Brooke's Prime name is pronounced 'Weer-e-mus'. Since Optimus is Latin, I decided to make Brooke's name Latin too. So vir is Latin for 'hero' and virimus is just something I made because Vir Prime doesn't sound very good, ahaha.  
And there you have it! Optimus ends up with Brooke and all is well! See you guys next time in **'A True Leader'**! _

* * *

**Sneak Peek**

_A person, who no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader._

_Daisaku Ikeda_

As I looked around, I had to take in all I was seeing. I was walking down a great rolled out white carpet, resting over green grass. In the chairs to my left were all of the Autobots' (plus I few ex-Decepticons') holoforms and, to my right, was my family. Lying ahead was an older man in a suit with a Bible in his hands. We had been planning this for weeks, and now it was time.


End file.
